Terraria is undoubtedly one of the greatest games out there. The game's enemy spawning system creates constant action and threat to keep the player on their toes. If you don't think about it too much, it makes perfect sense. Aggressive animals such as rabid bats or piranhas and fantasy monsters like skeletons and zombies seem like plausible threats, at least in the context of the Terraria world. But when you think about a bit more, its immersion starts breaking apart
The first weird part that the amount of undead humans vastly outnumbers the amount of living humans. You are literally killing hundreds if not thousands of zombies, skeletons, ghouls and severed body parts in a given playthough, unless you are speedrunning though the game. This could be explained with the fact that there is/ was a zombie apocalypse in the land of Terraria. This would also explained the abandoned cabins and mines in the skeleton-infested caverns. Other explanation is that respawning is canon, as the NPCs seem to do so alongside the player, if they are not on hardcore. As graveyards made with player graves spawn zombies, it could imply that they are the player's reanimated bodies after they respawned into another. Other explanations could be that other people also bury dead bodies near player-created graveyards, or that natural zombies are attracted to ecto-mist and simply migrate to the graveyard. Maybe the zombies and skeletons also respawn, meaning that for every death in the world, a permanent undead monster is created. Maybe the Terraria universe would eventually end with zombies and skeletons filling up the whole planet and even space.
The other part is the natural world. While Terraria has a seemingly diverse and may I even say it -realistic- ecosystem, on closer inspection it does not seem like so anymore. Terraria seems to have a large amount of apex predators, like huge caves filled with man-sized spiders, giant carnivorous plants that can stretch taller than trees, colossal sandworms, piranhas, anglerfish and giant arapaimas flooding the jungle ponds, you get the point. But at least it is not that unrealistic, especially when compared to games like Rain World, which is supposed to simulate an ecosystem, but ends up spamming giant apex predators at the player on any other difficulty that the easiest. This is because Terraria has an ample amount of animals that act as herbivores and omnivores, such as the harmless critters and fish like bunnies, frogs and bass. Some enemies also fit into this bill, such as bats that may or may not be vampiric and giant tortoises, which seem to be extremely aggressive and territorial herbivores. The main issue is how these animals interact with each other. At least in Rain World the lizards actively try to hunt other creatures than the player, but in Terraria the different animals seem to not only disinterested in one other, but actively co-operate to kill the player. Sure, most creatures will kill a bunny or a macaw if it happens to get into the way, but they never go out of their way to kill them, only chasing down the player. Bees are the only exception to this. It just feels ridiculous to see angry trappers desperately stretching towards me in the jungle while jungle bats literally fly through its mouth unscathed. Maybe the animals don't even actually need to eat, as they player sure does not (unless its a special world). But then why would they attack the player? To steal their money?
Now I would like to ask the community about their insights and theories about these topics. Do you think that my theory about the undead is correct and in line with the lore? What about the ecosystem? What is the food chain?
TL;DR: In Terraria, the whole ecosystem teams up against you

Our 15 wk black lab mastiff has some bone inflammation, it's causing him some serious back leg pain. He's started antibiotics today (10 days) but bless his energetic heart, I know it pains him even more to not be able to rip and run like normal. He can't even follow me around the house. Anyone got suggestions on how to make him feel included/mentally stimulated? I hid some small treats around where he can reach without getting up (food and water are also within access cause he really isn't moving too much) but I want to do more 😭 Is this a good time to utilize him not biting like crazy?.. I feel bad taking advantage of his pain but he's curled up in my lap and I've been able to pet him longer than I ever have. Should I expect the piranha to return once healed?
Also any advice on how to make him comfy for the next few days would be great, I feel so bad for the lil dude
Edit: He also can't really stand up right now, he can and also walk but it's awkward and prefers not to. So he looks like he's paralyzed on the backside, vet gave him 25 mg of novox for 10 days as an anti inflammatory, it seems to help for a few hours so he can stand and use the bathroom but by morning I can't get him to even pee. They said if he doesn't improve after a few days to bring him back. Anything I can do to help ease the pain? Of course I'm not gonna give anymore meds but would like a warm bath or something help while waiting for the dose today? Ik it'll get better but he just looks miserable right now 😭 it's like "I wanna get up but I can't"

i'm working on a novel and would like to know if anyone could tell me any improvements i could make to the first chapter and prologue
Prologue
The day had started the same way it had for the past two years. The only difference was that I was going home. The hallway was crowded with people walking to and from their classes. Everyone was crowded next to each other so the halls were making the area feel claustrophobic. All the people talking mixed with the summer heat made me feel like I was locked in a sauna. I walked with Preston to the last class we would ever have together and as usual he was smiling. I never got why he always smiled even in situations where people should be sad he still smiled. He knew what today meant for me and he tried to keep light of the situation. I kept my head down away from what was ahead of me. My mind was too clouded about returning to see my family to notice anything in front of me. I walked into another student. It felt like I had walked into a wall. I knew immediately I had walked into tree. I stumble onto the ground and the commotion around me slows down to make room for us. He turned his bulky body around and apologized profusely without saying a word even though I had walked into him. He helped me off of the ground before hurrying down the hall.
“Alexandria, are you doing okay?” Preston said he had tilted his body downward so I had to look down to look him in his eyes. The way he was standing made him look like an idiot but he didn't seem to care. The way he acted made me laugh, which caused his smile to widen.
“I'm doing fine, just got lost in my head.”
“Thinking about how you’ll leave soon,” he said
“Was it that obvious?” He was the only person I told about me being an exchange student. I came to spend high school in Newkinawa and he was the only person I ever hung out with.
“I see what you mean,” he said “Newkinawa is a beautiful place with beautiful people to live in it…myself included”
“You wish,” I say with a smile we continue walking through the hallway “I'm just not excited to go back yet”
After I say that his smile grows wider “So you will miss me after all”
“I wouldn't say that much” I responded whilst smiling.
We had made it to our last class only to see it closed with a sign labeled “Uma incident” Uma was a student known for messing with the chemistry lab and destroying school property in the process. I've never actually met her but Preston says “She's a little weird but still nice”
“Guess class is canceled for today,” Preston remarked with a smile “Wanna go out to the court till the bell rings.”
“Sure let's go” I respond
The place we ate every day was outside. It used to be a tennis court before I moved in. Now they put trees and flowers all over the place. Preston really liked the blue color of the flowers but it just never clicked for me. I look over at Preston and he's staring up at the sky. There are a number of clouds in almost enough to block the sun but it still pokes its rays through and lands on Preston's face. The clouds swim in front of the sun till they block out the sun's light. Preston faces towards me.
“I'm gonna miss you Alexandria” he says
“You know you can just call me Alex,” I replied. I start to smile again. “I'll miss you too!" He smiles toward me again as we get up to leave as the clouds start to clump together and rain slowly falls. As we're walking back to the school there's a loud tearing sound followed by screams as the ground shakes.
The ground tears itself apart as the dirt and stone erupt from the ground. The sky blackens and a pale blue light escapes the earth. Then creatures erupt from the ground in a violent ejection from the earth creating a white pillar diffusing as they reach higher in the air. Some are clawing their way out of the cracks like maggots out of a corpse. People are swept into the updraft screaming for their lives.
The creatures descend like a tidal wave and tear apart any people caught in their path. They storm out of the crack in hundreds as more cracks in the earth form. Me and Preston started running away as people were screaming behind us. A girl running next to us has her legs slashed by a creature. The monster begins to tear open her chest as she chokes on her own blood. The monster shovels her lungs and innards into its decrepit mouth. Me and Preston keep running until we're met at the entrance of the school and we catch the attention of a monster as it begins to savagely rush toward us. The monster resembles ghosts my father told me about. But this one looks monstrously horrific. It floats in the air and opens its mouth so wide it nearly replaces its entire torso; its jaws hold savage teeth each the same old gray color of its body. Its eyes glow a rotten yellow color through the dark. It stretches out its arms showing its giant hands and claws like fingers. It swipes at us leaving a giant claw mark on the door behind us but Preston ducks my body down to avoid the attack. We run around it as the monster swaps its focus to another bystander. Screaming past us. Me and Preston run into the parking lot as people scream around us. We hide next to a car.
“What the hell is happening!?” I yell to Preston. More of the creatures fly over us and swoop down to people like vultures on roadkill devouring the fleeing people.
Preston starts to breathe heavily ”we need to get out of here and someplace safer”. As we were talking one of the monster phases through the car we were hiding next to forcing us to run into the street.
“Lets go to your house till things cool down” i say to Preston through panted breaths
“Wait couldn't we head to your house instead” Preston says.
“Why would that matter your house is closer anyways” i respond
“But-” Preston is interrupted by two creatures swooping above us to grab another person. The two monsters begin to pull the person apart while he writhes in pain before having his flesh be torn in half and having his organs be devoured.
“Come on lets go!!” I say as I grab his hand and run even faster.
By the time we reach Preston's house any living person is gone. On the street are just corpses laying torn and mutilated on the roads and sidewalk. The air in the neighborhood feels cold despite the season being summer. When I walk down the street I can still hear the occasional horrific wail the monsters give off. We move closer to Preston's house and I can see him sweating. He looked more worried than before when the creatures were chasing us and he kept darting his eyes away from his home.
“Preston, are you feeling okay?” he doesn't respond to my question and keeps darting his eyes. He walks slowly behind me and as I reach for the door handle and when I touch it it feels nearly freezing. I wrap my hoodie around my hand and slowly open the door. The house is quiet so me and Preston creep further into his house. The inside is cold and damp as if we were locked in a freezer. The further we move into the house the louder a subtle chewing sound is heard.
“It sounds like rats are eating a dead cow over there” I whisper. Preston continues to stay silent behind me. We slowly walk closer towards the kitchen and the sound gets louder and louder and louder until we reach the room.
We're met with a rancid smell of vomit and blood. My blood starts to run cold and every instinct in my body is telling me to run. I can feel Preston breathing get heavier as we get closer. We turn the corner and see Preston's mom lying on the ground dead with one of the creatures hunched over slurping her intestines. The sight causes me to vomit alerting the monster to our presence. The creature turns around and its mouth turns into a mortifying grin as it flies into Preston's moms body. The corpse begins to rise and spur splashing blood over the kitchen. When the corpse stops spasming it picks itself up from the ground and with glazed over eyes it holds its intestines in its hand and gives us the same grin it did when it was outside her body. The possessed corpse lunges at me and starts to chase me around the kitchen. The body is running into the walls and cabinets spraying its blood and other loose organs around the area as I'm avoiding its assault. The corpse leans over and ejects one of its loose intestines towards me, wrapping me in it. It pulls me towards it so fast I'm flung towards the ground. The corpse limbers over to me and raises its free hand aiming for my head. The creature's deranged smile causes the corpse’s cheeks to tear apart. It places both of its bloodied and demented hands on my face and starts to press my skull into the ground. I struggle to breathe. The room starts to get dark and blood escapes my head.
Until Preston jumps on top of his mothers corpse with a kitchen knife and repeatedly stabs it in the head. The possessed body tries to shake him off but he keeps stabbing, blood gets in on his face and tears start to escape his eyes. The creature violently ejects from the corpse's mouth causing her head to nearly explode and Preston stops stabbing the body. The body falls over in a splash of blood and organs. The monster leaves phasing through the roof leaving Preston crying over his mother's body. As the blood mixes with the tears he collapses to his knees crying. I walk over and hug him as the air around us turns bitter and the chill of death leaves the room and us with it.
Chapter 1 Eclipse
It's been 2 months since the apocalypse started. We've kept ourselves alive by looting grocery stores and houses, we hide from the creatures as we have no way to fight back against them. Preston came up with the idea to call them glanter’s. He’s looking better since we left his family home but I can tell something is wrong with him that he's not telling me. Everytime I ask him about it he tells me it's no big deal. I asked him earlier today and he just told me
“don't worry about it, I'm over it” without even looking at me. Now we're walking through the street and I'm walking behind Preston, I can barely see his head past the giant bag we're both carrying on our backs we use to carry supplies. I look up at the sky and it's still pitch black except for the moon giving us any amount of light. Preston turns around to face me.
“Let's check out that house, it might have some cool stuff in it” he points to a white house to our right. The house is a two story building with steps leading to the front door. There's a generator poking out from the backyard. The driveway is empty save for a couple of dried blood stains and tire marks. It's similar to the other houses in the neighborhood except for a couple broken windows.
“Sure why not” We head over to the house and I see something shining on the side of the house in the corner of my eye. I turn my head to look at it closer but it quickly disappears before I can see it clearly.
“Probably squirrel or something” I mumble to myself. Preston walks up the stairs to the house and I walk up the steps behind him as a breeze blows past my face. Preston tries to turn the door knob but the door is locked. I start to pull out a lockpick I grabbed at the store earlier. I motion towards Preston to move out of the way as I kneel down to pick the lock. It takes me a couple of minutes to unlock the door so I walk inside the house and Preston follows behind me while closing and locking the door. The doorway of the house leads to a dark room so I take a flashlight out of my bag to illuminate the area. Were put into the living room and bookshelves are on the walls and a large TV sat in front of a large black couch with smaller chairs surrounding it. Dust is covering every surface of the room and spiderwebs litter the corners of the walls. The area smells like moth balls and there's a lack of blood anywhere nearby.
“Guess the owners got out before the Glanter’s got in, '' I say to Preston. When he doesn't respond I turn around and he's already looking further into the house. When I find him he's managed to find a flight of stairs that lead to a lower portion of the house.
“I'll check on him later,” I think to myself as I headed towards the kitchen to see if we could restock on food. I walk past a bedroom and remark on how childish it looked. The walls were painted with blue and green stripes and a bunk bed sat on the right wall. There's a chest at the foot of the bed so I walk over and lift the top off of it. The box is layered with children's toys, a multitude of dolls, bears, and figures all jut out of the box. I notice a small robot toy and inspect it in my hands.
The cold metal makes my hand shiver and the sharp body shape makes the robot bigger than my hand. There's red lining around the robot's buttons surrounded by the cold gray of the robot's “skin”. It reminds me of a toy my little brother had. My heart feels heavy as I worry about what happened to my family. If they're alive, dead, or worse…possessed. The thoughts send a chill down my spine but I push them aside for now. I put the toy in my bag and exit the bedroom.
I can see the kitchen is down the hallway so I walk down the hall and enter. The kitchen is pretty clean except for a couple of dishes in the sink and the dust. There's a table seated for 3 people in the center of the room. I start opening the cabinets in search for any food or water. There's boxes of cereal leftover on top of shelves and a mix of chip bags and cookies in neat boxes stationed in the cabinets.
“Score,” I say to myself as I begin to put the snacks into my bag. When the cabinets are empty I look inside the fridge. The inside of the fridge ran out of power so most of the food inside is rotted. There are a couple of bottles of water in the front so I shove those in my bag. There's also a bag of oranges that still seem to be healthy in the back. I grab them and toss them on the table. There's rotten sandwich meat hidden in the drawer of the fridge.it smells like a dumpster outside of a butcher shop. I wrinkle my nose at the smell. I look around the kitchen for any bread with no luck.
I continue to look through the fridge until I hear Preston scream from another room. Immediately I bolt out of the kitchen leaving my bag behind and run towards the lower part of the house. I run down the stairs and nearly trip on the steps. The stairs lead to a big room. There are posters to tv shows and movies I don't recognize. The walls are painted black and there's a bear skin rug on the floor. I notice Preston standing next to a really big TV hyperventilating. I walk over to him and ask him.
“Are you ok? What happened?”
He talks through deep breaths “I… saw a… spider.”
“What?!” I respond in confusion.
“It was really big and I had jumped at my face”
“Sure it was.” I say while laughing “Let's go upstairs there's some food in the fridge we can eat”
“Wait, I think you should check this out.” He says while pointing towards one of the walls. I grab Preston's flashlight off the floor and face it towards the wall. Hanging halfway off the wall is a large map labeled Newkiwana scavenger hunt of 76.
“I think we should take it,” Preston says “You can read a map right?”
“A little but I'm not the best at it,” I say to him “can you read a map?”
“it shouldn’t be too hard it’s mainly pictures any way I'm sure I can figure it out”
I walk over to the wall where the map is hung there are trophies covering tables and shelved in their own personal cases one of them reads “1st place 100-meter swimming competition for 1986 Zack Hemmingway” and another one reads “2nd place 100-meter swimming competition for 1989 Zack Hemmingway”
“Guess this guy really liked swimming,” Preston remarks while staring at a wall of newspaper clippings. All of them are about the same person in swimming competitions. All labeled different things like “a new record for Zack “the dolphin” Hemmingway”,
‘Zach Hemmingway our star plans for the future” all the newspapers are about this kind he has paler skin and a bulky enough build to swim pretty well. Most of the pictures have him coming out of the water in a pool, his long black hair soaked and sitting at his shoulders. Another one has him sitting at a desk over a pile of books and his hair in a knot , “vicious wipeout ends the Dolphins career”, and “ex-swim champ Zack Hemmingway found in a drunken stupor outside strip club.
“Everyone has their own hobbies I guess,” I say as I take the map off of the wall and fold it up. “Sucks what happened to Zack though” I walked over to Preston’s bag and put the rolled map in one of the pockets. I walk back up the stairs and Preston grabs his bag and follows behind me.
We make our way towards the kitchen and Preston starts looking through the fridge for anything to eat. I grab an orange from the table and throw it at his head. The fruit bounces off his head and rolls on the floor. He turns around and grabs the fruit from the floor
“Why did you throw an orange at me?”
“It's the only food we have unless you plan on eating spoiled a sandwich“ He starts to peel it while walking towards the table. We both take a seat and start to eat the oranges from the bag. He plants his feet on top of the table and bites into the fully peeled orange. I grab a water bottle from a bag and start to drink from it as Preston says.
“I saw a dvd player in that man cave downstairs we could watch a movie if it still has power”
“Sure it could be fun.” Me and Preston spend the rest of our time eating until the bag of oranges is emptied and we head back downstairs. Preston grabs the DVD player from under the table and blows the dust off the top of it; he plugs it into the wall as I plop myself onto the couch. He plugs the DVD player into the TV and sits on the recliner next to me. He presses a few buttons on the remote and the TV lights up. I squint my eyes at how bright it is. It's the most amount of light I've seen that didn't come from a flashlight. I notice there's a box filled with DVDs. I pull the box over towards me. I ruffle through the box and see movies like Silence of the Lambs, Terminator 2, and Home alone.
“Dude some of these came out just before the world turned inside out” I say to him.
“Really? Let's play one.” He responds. I toss him Terminator 2 and he puts it into the DVD player.
We spend the next couple hours watching movies and laughing together. It's some of our only moments of peace we’ve had since the end of the world and to me it's the most fun I've had yet. We're putting in the next DVD when there's a loud crash outside and the TV shuts off. Preston goes behind it to see if it's still plugged in.
“I think the generator outside is busted” i say
“It seems that way” Preston replies while backing away from the tv” i'm gonna go check it out”
“Don't worry I got it” I say as I hop out of my chair. Preston waves goodbye as I head up the stairs. I make my way back through the hallway leading to the living room and front door. I reach the door and start to turn the knob. I open the door wide as a car speeds down the street. I step out of the door to see what had happened when I hear the screech of a glanter. It cuts through the sky like an unholy opera singer. A group of them fly by and chase the car as I rush back inside the house. I slam the door shut and look through the window as I see a couple of smaller glanters grab and shake the car violently looking for the driver. They tear at it, ripping off doors and breaking the windows. The driver screams as the seats cover with blood and he's ripped out of the car as multiple smaller glanters tear and bite off parts of his body like piranha's until his body is completely devoured. I run back to the man cave to warn Preston about what had happened. I spot him laying in his chair spinning a DVD disc on his finger.
“It's not safe outside right now”
“Why not?
“There's glanter's outside, they just ate a dude in his car”
“Did they see you come inside?”
“I don't think so , they flew off before I went inside.”
“well we're not dead so I'm gonna say they didn't see you. But let's stay here for a couple more hours just to be safe”
“Sounds good i'm gonna go find the master bedroom.” I start to walk back up the stairs to the house
“ Hold on why do you get the master bedroom” Preston says while walking after me.
“Because I'm gonna find it first” I say as I start to run to find the bedroom. He chases after me in pursuit of the bedroom. Me and Preston run around the house looking for the master bedroom. We look through room after room finding closets, the garage, a bathroom and a door leading to a balcony in the back of the house. I manage to run into the bedroom and yell out to Preston.``Found it!!”
He comes walking into the room breathing heavily from the running. We both check out the room. The walls are painted a cream yellow and the bed takes up most of the room's center. The bed has burgundy sheets poking out from its bottom and a quilt with multi-colored floral designs lay sprawled out on top of it. There's a wardrobe built into the wall and a black leather couch sits comfortably on the left wall.
“Dibs on the bed” I say as I jump on top of it. I stretch out on top of the quilt and search for a comfortable part to sleep in.
“Where am I supposed to sleep then?” Preston complains
“You can sleep on the couch it looks soft enough” I respond while pointing towards the couch “I saw some spare blankets in one of the closets”
“Alright i’ll be right back” he mumbles to himself “why do i always get the couch”
“ I'll be right here if you need me,” i call after him. I sit up on the bed and start to look around the room more. I notice the entrance to the wardrobe is cracked open slightly. I hop out of the bed and grab a flashlight from my bag as I walk into the wardrobe. I turn on my flashlight and stare in awe at how many clothes are in there. The room is only half as big as the bedroom but it's still bigger than any closet I've ever had. The wardrobe is full of shirts, dresses, pants, and shoes for men and women. I immediately start to look through the shoes to see if any fit my size. I throw a pair of black high heels behind me as Preston finds me in the wardrobe. He looks around before asking me.
“What are you doing?”
“Finding a new pair of clothes to wear cause I've been wearing the same pair of jeans for waaaaay too long”
“Fair enough. Is there any guy stuff in there?”
“Yeah right there” I hook my thumb behind me to point to the other end of the closet.
“I'm sure they won't mind if we take a couple of things…they're probably dead by now anyways,” Preston says with a slight grin on his face. The way he said made me spin my head to look at him but he was already on the opposite end of the wardrobe looking at suits.
I shake away the thought and continue looking for any pair of sneakers in my size. 40 minutes pass before I walk out of the wardrobe holding a new pair of jeans and a black guns-N-roses t-shirt. I toss the clothes on top of the bed and check to see if the shower in the bathroom still works. I turn the dial and wait for a moment. The shower head chokes a little before water comes pouring out. I reach my hand under the showerhead to feel the water. The water is cold, it causes my hand to shiver when I take it out. I shake the water off and say to myself.
“Good enough” as I start to take off my old clothes and get in the shower. The cold water bounces off my skin, it sends shivers down my spine but I still get the old dirt from the last few months off of me. I step out and see a couple of dry towels hanging off of the door. I grab one and dry my body off and grab another to wrap around my head and dry my hair. I step out of the bathroom and Preston is still inside the wardrobe. I put on my new clothes while his back is turned and walk over towards him when I'm finished.
“Still haven't found anything,” I ask him
He turns around “Nothing yet, the only thing interesting was this coat.” He holds a leather coat up to me. The coat is made of black leather and has a skull covered with blue flames on the back. There's a black shirt inside the coat with a skeleton hand making a thumbs-up embroidered on the front.
“ That's pretty cool, it's better than what you're wearing right now at least” he's outfitted in a blue hoodie with holes on the chest and tears at the sleeves. He also has a shirt with a faded picture of a blue flower printed on it.
“I guess you're right” he gets up from the floor and exits the wardrobe. He lays the clothes on the couch along next to the blanket and pillow he brought into the room.
“The shower works so you can get yourself clean In there,” I say to him
“You know, a shower sounds really good right now.” He gets up from the floor and grabs a pair of pajama pants that were laying next to him. He leaves the wardrobe and enters the bathroom, closing the door behind him. After a moment the water turns on and I hop on the bed to get ready to sleep. I squirm myself into the quilt and rest my head against one of the pillows. I shut my eyes and fall asleep listening to the passive sound of the shower like rain on a car.
I'm in a void. It feels like I'm standing in a puddle of water that reaches to my knees. I wade my way forward looking around for anything in the darkness. In the distance I can see 3 figures l. I moved closer to them and their silhouettes get clearer. I realize they are my dad and brothers. I start to run towards them kicking up water behind me until something grabs my leg. It pulls down violently forcing me under the water without a breath of air. I kick at the thing grabbing me until something grabs my other leg. I look down and see two glanter's each with a monstrous smile on their faces. They stare back at me and one of them tugs my leg harder than before and tears it off of my body. The water around me turns red as the glanter laugh's. The other smiles wider as it starts to fling me around the water forcing any air left in my lungs to be forced out as I scream in pain. The glanter throws me away and I can see my family slowly fade into the distance as I'm flown away.
I struggle to swim back to where I was, one of my legs is missing and the other is broken. The glanter's find me again and I try to get to the surface to escape them. I'm flapping my arms in any attempt to escape as one of the glanter's flies in front of me and grabs my arm. I look at the monster with tears in my eyes as it bites my arm and tears my body away from it. It flings my body away and with my remaining arm I clutch the wound as the water floods into my body leaving me in the void I started in. I look around and the glanter's seem to have left. I turn behind me and see my family again, this time I'm closer than before.
I grit my teeth and drag my body towards them slowly as I leave a trail of blood and tears behind me. I finally reach my family and grab one of my father's shoes. I stare up and he looks at me. His stare causes me to feel cold as a grotesque smile grows on his face. I stare in shock as my brothers each have the same look as my father.
I shoot up from my sleep panting heavily in a cold sweat.
“It was just a dream..just a dream…just a dream” I look at my hands as tears fall into them. I look around the room and see Preston sleeping peacefully on the couch. The room feels frozen in place as a chill runs down my spine. I get out of the bed and walk out of the bedroom. I make my way through the dark hallway and find the entrance to the balcony I saw earlier. I creak open the screen door and head outside. The Balcony is pretty large, about the size of the kitchen in the house. There are some chairs knocked over next to a table and I pick one up to sit on it. I look out into the expanse of the neighborhood, houses lined up next to each other, dozens broken apart by roads, and dead bodies scattered across the roads.
I look up in the sky and sit back in the chair. The sky looks empty except for the moon giving this world its only source of light. Without the moon, we’d be left in darkness. It hangs in the sky alone, no stars, no clouds, nothing but itself, and the void of the sky. I think back about the dream I had. My dad and my brother's all dead and possessed and then they kill me. I start to tear up thinking about it. I try to wipe away the tears but it’s no use. I'm too scared for my family. I don't know where they are if they're alive if they're worried about me I don't know anything! I start to quietly cry into my hands. I don't know how long I'm sitting there until I feel a hand on my shoulder. I turn my head to face it and I see Preston. He was smiling and looking at me. I turn away to wipe my tears and he walks next to me.
“I heard you sneaking out of the bedroom so I followed you to see where you were going.” he says “but that's not my question.” he pauses and looks at me “my question is what’s got you feeling so down?” he leans over the railing of the balcony
“It's nothing, I just came out here to clear my head.” I say as more tears escape from my eyes in big slow drops that ride down the sides of my face.
“if you don't feel like telling me you don't have to but i'll be here if you ever change your mind”. He looks up at the moon before turning to face me and his smile widens “I'll always be here with you…trust me I'm not going anywhere”
I stare up at him and wipe away my tears as a smile grows on my face to match his. I get up and stare over the balcony with him. “So where are we heading next?” I say to him, Preston pulls the map we got from the man cave downstairs out from his pocket.
“After I got out of the shower I decided to take a look at the map for anything interesting we could see.”
“Ok did you find anything?” i ask
“I did,” he points at a spot on the right of the map. “We should head to the museum”
“I didn't want to go to a museum before the apocalypse why would i want to go now?'' I ask him.
“Well the best part of museums is the cool stuff right”
“Yeah what about it”
“The only problem is that you could only look at the fossils and armor but you could never take them.”
“So you want to rob a museum?” Prestons eyes light up at the question
“Exactly they might have a really cool sword I could use, or I could sharpen a dinosaur tooth and use that as a weapon, there might be a cursed shield that can summon the dead to fight for you. This opportunity is too good to pass up. We need to go!”
“That does seem pretty cool but wouldn't carrying that stuff weigh us down. What if a glanter is chasing us and we can't run fast enough because of the stuff we took from the museum.”
“We’ll only take things that are light. Even then I could just block the glanter with my newly acquired 2000 year old shield.”
“Fair enough we can go in a couple hours” I yawn and stretch out my arms. “Cause I'm feeling way too tired to walk all the way over there right now.”
“Alright i'm heading back to my couch and THEN we’ll head out to the museum” he leaves the balcony and heads back to the master bedroom leaving me alone on the balcony.
“Thanks Preston I'm not leaving either” I say into the sky. I turn around and walk back inside the house, closing the balcony door behind me. I walk back into the bedroom and Preston is hunched over and holding a flashlight looking at the map. He’s drawing lines through roads and marking X’s in different areas.
“What are the X’s for?” i ask him
“They’re places that glanter’s usually stay around. I'm marking them off so we remember not to go through them, or at least be more cautious.”
“Cool. Did you find where we are right now?” He points to an area where the lines all converge out of.
“Right around here is where the neighborhood ends. So if we follow this path we can make it to the museum in one piece” I pat him on the back and take the map from his hands.
“Get some sleep Preston, we have a full day tomorrow” he grins to himself before laying down on the couch. I put the map back into my bag and hop on the bed to get to sleep. I cover my body in the quilt and roll over facing away from Preston as he falls asleep. I nestle myself into the bed and slowly fall asleep to get ready for the next day.
I'm awoken by Preston shaking the bed I'm sleeping on. My eyes open and the room is foggy, I wipe away the sleep from my eyes and focus my attention towards Preston. He's practically jumping out of his skin with excitement, he's already fully dressed for the trip and shaking the bed with a wide smile on his face.
“Ok ok i'm up the air feels heavy as a groggy feeling fills my body. I wipe my eyes and the room starts to clear up. I turn to face Preston. He's still shaking my bed to wake me up, he’s already fully dressed and nearly jumping out of his skin in excitement.
“Ok ok, i'm up you can stop shaking the bed” i say
“Then get up we’ve got a long walk ahead of us” he says as he stops shaking the mattress. He grabs the map from my bag and points to one of the red lines.
“We're gonna follow this way to the museum. We’ll move past the hotel around the ice skating rink and around the park. We’ll mainly stick to walking through the streets, we might have to go rooftop hopping to avoid any glanter’s if we see them but i'm sure we won’t reach that point.” he explains
“Wait, wait, wait, why are avoiding the skating rink and the park” i ask
“ everytime we go near the park there's weird noises and light coming out of it”
“And why can't we go to the ice skating rink?”
“I didn't think it would be important”
“It couldn't hurt to check it out at least”
“Fine we could make a detour”
“Ok and how do you plan on getting on top of roofs?”
“I'm sure we'll figure it out when we get to it”
“Ok man as long as you’re sure '' I yawn and step out of the bed. Preston starts to put the map in his bag. I walk into the bathroom with my clothes and change out of my pajamas. Minutes later I walk out and see Preston sitting on the couch twiddling his thumbs.
“Finally you're out” he smiles at me before handing me my bag and slinging it over his shoulder. We took a last look inside the kitchen to see if we missed anything. Afterwards we leave for the outside. The cold air bites at my face but Preston walks down the stairs, his face buried in the map. I jog to catch up to him as we both head into the street.
“Hey Preston, could I see the map?”
“Sure” he hands over the map and continues walking. I look at the map and the numerous lines drawn on roads. I look at the corner of the map and notice a small map key with numerous symbols for different areas like a library, school, hospital, and more. There's even a way to tell how far away each location is. The text reads “1 inch=5 miles” I quickly count how far we are from the museum.
“Dude this museum is like 100 miles away.”
“Yep it'll be a long walk, it'll take us a while to get there”
“Did you plan on us walking there the whole time?”
“We might find bikes or something.” he pauses “well i did think we would walk the whole way”
“This is gonna take us weeks to get there!”
“Did you have anything else planned?”
“Well…i guess not but we should still try to find some bikes or something”
“Ok if we see any way to travel faster we’ll take it”
“Alright cool” I hand him the map back and he folds it back up and puts it in his bag. We walk further until we leave the gated neighborhood we started in. Preston takes the map back out and looks at it before he turns right and continues walking. I follow him staring forward at the expanse of the road. The outside of the neighborhood is surrounded by roads all leading to different parts of Newkinawa. We walk past a sign that reads “Coretown 20 miles ahead” I nudge Preston towards the sign and he checks the map again.
“Yep, the museum’s in Coretown. Would you believe the residents were pretty proud of it. Should be a fun place to explore” he says
“Yeah but it’ll take us a million years to get there.” i complain
“Lighten up, I'm sure it will be worth it”. We continue walking down the road slowly making our way to Coretown.

I visited USJ for the first time recently. I went on a Saturday (crazy I know!), but it was the only time that worked with my schedule.
I purchased the Express Pass 7 Variety for 19,800 Yen or about $126 USD. This was in addition to the 8,800 Yen or about $56 USD just to get into the park. Expensive, but absolutely worth it. I’m actually amazed at how much I was able to get in throughout the day, which wouldn’t have been remotely possible without it. I also hate waiting in lines and am fairly impatient when it comes to them. If it’s an option for you, definitely splurge. If not, definitely do not go on a weekend (I’ve heard Tuesday and Wednesday are best) and try to take advantage of single rider queues.
Below is the timeline of my day with some lessons learned, tips, ratings, commentary, etc. Hopefully somebody finds it helpful/interesting!
6:50 am - Arrived at park entrance for an “8:30 opening”. The line was to the kiosks at this point.
7:00 am - They started letting in people with early entry
7:30 am - They started letting everybody else into the park (1 hour before the posted opening, which is typical). I made it through the bag check and into the park in about 10 minutes.
7:40 am - I headed for the Demon Slayer ride since this wasn’t included in my express pass. I tried to get timed entry to Super Nintendo World while walking, but they weren’t available yet. I got to the lockers for Demon Slayer and found out you needed a 100 yen coin. I had read this, but totally forgot and of course didn’t have one! I went to the Demon Slayer merchandise store and they were able to give me change, but this delayed me by ~ 5 minutes.
7:55 am - Demon Slayer (Single Rider). 8.5/10. I thought I had read they didn’t have single rider for Demon Slayer so this was a nice surprise. The sign had a 70 minute single rider wait time posted, but I was through the queue and finished with the ride in 50 minutes. I have never seen Demon Slayer (my nephew loves it and I so wish he had been with me!), but it was really neat and well done. I did feel a little sick after due the VR nature, but I am really sensitive with motion sickness.
8:45 am - Grabbed my stuff from the lockers and tried again for a SNW timed entry (I had left my phone in the locker since I didn’t have pockets). By this time the earliest entry available was 1pm. Since I already had entry with my express pass at 12:40 pm, I passed. Ideally I was hoping for a 9:30 am or so entry so I could experience it with less crowds, but oh well!
9:00 am - Walked over to Jaws, but the single rider queue was closed so I decided to use my express pass for Hollywood Dream instead. On the way to Hollywood Dream I walked past the Mario Cafe and decided to stop for one of the pancake sandwiches first. I waited about 5-10 minutes in line and ordered the Luigi No Bake Cheescake sandwich. It was SO cute and honestly really delicious. This was 900 Yen or about $6 USD.
9:30 am - Hollywood Dream (Express Pass). 9/10. I got right through and waited no more than 5 minutes. Really fun roller coaster and definitely had my adrenaline going after this!
9:45 am - Wandered past Jaws again, but still no single rider queue so I decided to walk through NYC and SF and then into the Minion area.
10:15 am - Minion Crazy Ride (Express pass). 8/10. This one was probably about a 10 minute wait. Cute and fun ride, but definitely had some motion sickness again. I’ve also never seen Minions, but they are adorable! Kinda want to watch it now Lol
10:35 am - Checked the app for a SNW time entry again and was able to secure one for 8pm just in case I didn’t get to everything during my express pass timed entry and wanted to go back at the end of the night.
10:45 am - Flying Dinosaur (Express Pass). 10/10. Essentially walked on other than the ticket checks throughout the line, lockers, and metal detectors. Amazing roller coaster, but for me, honestly REALLY scary and out of my comfort zone (especially the part going backwards and underground). But I like getting out of my comfort zone and so worth it for the adrenaline :)
11:10 am - Jaws Ride (Single Rider). 7/10. Decided to head to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter for lunch, but I checked Jaws on my way and the single rider queue was finally open! I think it had just opened because I was the first in line and literally walked on the first boat, zero wait!
11:35 am - Lunch at Three Broomsticks. I waited in line for probably about 15 minutes. Really cool theming in this restaurant! I ordered the Vegetable Irish Stew, a coffee, and of course a Butter Beer! This came out to around $20 USD. The food was fairly average, but not bad by any means and I was grateful for a plant based option. Loved the Butter Beer and the coffee was much needed pick me up!
12:30 pm - Arrived at Super Nintendo World for my 12:40 timed entry with my express pass. I got in 10 minutes early without a problem and went straight to Kinopio’s Cafe to get a timed entry slot. There is a QR code you scan and then make the reservation using Email or Line. However, it requires use of your location and for some reason it was not working on my phone! I tried for probably 5 minutes before asking a staff member. They tried to change a setting on my phone, but it still didn’t work. Fortunately, they were able to make the reservation for me on their IPad. I just had to give them my email and name. I got timed entry for 3:30 pm (!) so nearly 3 hours later. This was fine for me as I planned to spending significant time in Super Nintendo World and had already eaten, but something to be aware of!
1:00 pm - Mario Kart: Koopa’s Challenge (Express Pass). 9/10. This one was the longest wait of the day using the express pass. At the point when you get the Mario cap you join the regular queue. It was probably about a 20 minute wait from that point. Walking through Bowser’s castle was incredibly cool. The theming and attention to detail is literally amazing!! In hindsight I wish I would have let the people behind me pass and walked slower through the castle. The ride was also a ton of fun and really well done! Childhood dreams come true (I’m a huge Mario fan)!
1:30 pm - Decided to buy the power up band before riding Yoshi’s Adventure. I should have done this before riding Mario Kart, but I didn’t want to miss my timed entry (I doubt they are that strict, but in the moment I didn’t want to take the chance). I got Kinopio/Toad :) The band was 4900 Yen or about $32 USD. This is well circulated knowledge, but don’t buy the band from the first couple of stands. You can buy them once you get further inside with short to no queues.
1:40 pm - Yoshi’s Adventure (Express Pass). 7/10. I think I waited about 10 minutes for this. I know this ride gets a lot of flack, but for what it is, I really enjoyed it. I loved just sitting back and taking all that is SNW in. I had a smile on my face the whole time. However, I probably wouldn’t wait for it if I didn’t have an Express Pass.
2:00 pm - Mario Kart: Koopa’s Challenge again (Single Rider). The wait time was only 30 minutes. This time, with a bit of experience, I ended up winning! Woot, woot :) Just as fun the 2nd time around and if I had more time I would have went again. Something to note, with the single rider queue you miss almost the entirety of Bowser’s Castle before the ride.
2:40 pm - Wandered around the land a bit collecting coins, taking it all in, and played the Thwomp Panel Panic (10 minute wait) and Koopa Troopa POWer Punch (20 minute wait) mini games.
3:30 pm - Finally time for my timed entry at Kinopio’s Cafe. Even with the timed entry I still had to wait in line for 20+ minutes to order and be seated. I ordered the “? Block Tiramisu” and a coffee which came out to around $9 USD I think. The tiramisu was absolutely adorable, but was pretty average taste wise. The cafe itself is also super cute and the staff were incredibly friendly. The waitress insisted on taking my picture and was such a joy. This was a much needed rest for my feet!
4:30 pm - Piranha Plant Nap Mishap (10 minute wait) and Goomba Crazy Prank (30 minute wait) mini games.
5:15 pm - Now with my keys in hand, I head over to the Bowser Jr. Shadow Showdown to get back Peach’s rightful Golden Mushroom (< 5 minute wait). This was so fun!! I already think the power up band was worth it, but this sealed the deal on that question.
5:30 pm - Slot Machine Game (10 minute wait). I was always really good at this one on the video games so I loved getting the chance to try in real life and I nailed it! 4x Mushrooms, woot woot! What fun!
6:00 pm - Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey (Express Pass). 9.5/10. Wait time was 10-15 minutes, but the theming before the ride here was incredible, on par with Mario Kart and (surprise!) I’ve never seen Harry Potter either Lol Although, subtle brag, I have met Dan Radcliffe and have his autograph.. nicest human ever :) If you are a Harry Potter fan, I’m sure you would lose your mind with this pre-show and ride. The ride itself was mind blowing, my favorite VR ride of the day, although once again this one made me a bit sick.
6:30 pm - Fight of the Hippogriff (Express Pass). 3/10. ~10 minute wait. At this point in the day I was exhausted, and to be honest, I could have skipped this ride. I had read it was underwhelming, but I just couldn’t convince myself to skip it because I “paid” for the Express Pass. I studied Economics, I should be the last person to fall for the sunk cost fallacy ;) I got to sit in the first row so that was cool, but yeah, it’s quite short and very mild. The views of Hogwarts (?) was cool though!
6:50 pm - Back to Three Broomsticks for a sunset Butter Beer over the lake (and a cheeky Kind Bar I snuck in.. shhh). 800 yen or about $5 USD. Beautiful :)
7:20 pm - Flying Dinosaur again (Single Rider). Wait was ~30 minutes. Mustered up the courage to go on this one again and end my day with a BANG! Just as fun.. and just as scary the second time Haha
8:00 pm - Decision time… back to SNW or no? I was knackered and had already defeated Bowser Jr. so I decide to call it a day and go get some food outside the park. Made may way through the park to the exit, ejoying the night time vibes and reminiscing on what a crazy awesome day I just had!
In the end, I was able to ride 11 rides and complete all of the mini games in Super Nintendo World. It was a long, exhausting 13+ hour day, but so, so worth it!
I spent about $255 USD total which included Park Entrance, the 7 ride Express Pass, Food/Drink, and the Power Up Band. Worth every penny in my opinion.
Side note: something else that makes USJ really special is the attitude of all the Japanese staff. They were so friendly and happy and the vibes were just amazing. In SNW especially, they really bought into the theme (Here we go!). I’ve never been to Hollywood or Orlando so I don’t know if it’s the same there, but they were wonderful. Shout out to you all for making my day even better :)
If anybody has questions, please let me know and I will try to help as best as I can!
Lastly, some additional information on SNW that might help others: if you don’t have the express pass, you need to get to the park early (like I did). When you get into the park go straight to SNW and you will likely be able to walk in. If you can’t walk in, get on the app and get a timed entry. The timed entry tickets become available as soon as it’s full from walk-ins.

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Votes:
Axel - 7
At the elimination ceremony, Chris goes through his usual speech before announcing that in a shocking twist, today’s vote is completely unanimous. He calls everybody but Axel to get a marshmallow, and Dawn asks her why she voted herself. Axel explains that she and Shawn thought that if she voted herself, the vote would come down to a tie so that Chris would decide who goes home instead of her.
Axel then bids farewell to her friends before walking down the dock of shame. After she leaves on the boat of losers, Chris hands Sammy a vhs tape telling her that it’ll give some closure and maybe cause some drama, giving her the instructions: “You’ll know who this should go to.” This leaves Sammy confused as Chris turns to the camera for his outro.
Chris: Will Max ever have a change of heart? How much longer can Zoey withstand the torture that is Heather? And what secrets does the vhs tape hold? Find out next time, on Total Drama Island!
In-world votes:
Axel - Trent, Dawn, Sammy, Damien, Axel
Brunch Of Disgustingness
The episode opens with the Killer Bass returning to their cabin after the elimination ceremony. Sammy asks what the vhs tape is for, but no one knows. Damien tells her that it has to be important considering Chris himself gave it to her, but he doesn’t know where they could even find a vhs player. Dawn’s more confused about what Chris meant by “You’ll know who this should go to.” and asks why he wouldn’t just give it to whoever needs it. Sammy breaks out into a yawn, so Trent suggests that they all get some sleep and worry about it in the morning, so the four of them say goodbye before going to their separate parts of the cabin.
In the morning, Chris summons the campers to the mess hall, and Owen complains when breakfast isn’t waiting for them. Chris reassures Owen that there’ll be plenty of food soon, before he and Chef mischievously laugh. After regaining his composure, Chris congratulates the contestants on being the last ten remaining in the game, and that next week the teams will become one. Chris announces that with this, the guys and girls will each have one cabin to themselves, and that today’s challenge will be a battle of the sexes. He then says that the campers will have some time to settle down before everyone gets a bite to eat, but he and Chef start laughing again.
Trent and Damien welcome the Gopher guys with open arms and they start bonding over immature jokes. Meanwhile, the girls aren’t as friendly, as Heather shoots angry glares at Dawn and Sammy behind their backs, much to the embarrassment of Zoey.
Confessional:
Zoey: You’d think Heather could at least go five minutes without starting something, but nope! Already she’s lined up Dawn and Sammy like they’re set for execution!
Chris announces that he has good news: No one will be eliminated this week, and instead the challenge is only for a reward. The contestants cheer, and Chris decides to let everyone move their belongings to their new accommodations.
As everyone heads to the cabins, Heather complements Sammy’s hair to get on her good side. Sammy thanks Heather for the compliment, but Dawn is all but impressed.
In the Gopher cabin, Owen hugs Katie goodbye, and insists Max join them. However, Max says that evil doesn’t do hugs. Owen forces Max into a bear hug anyway, much to his dismay. Katie then asks him if he’s feeling okay, and Max questions why she would be asking that.
After packing up his stuff, Shawn heads to the Bass cabin, but is stopped by Heather along the way.
Heather: Look, just because we’re not on the same team anymore doesn’t mean you’re done working for me.
Shawn: Our deal was that I’d work with you. I’m still not part of your alliance.
Heather: With, for, all in the same if you want me to protect you.
Dawn and Sammy arrive in what is now the girls cabin, and Heather continues to sweet-talk Sammy. Dawn asks Zoey how two-faced Heather is, and Zoey rates her a seven. Out of five. Katie comments on how they’re probably getting along way better than the guys, and we cut to them partying over music and pop. Owen lets out a burp, so Shawn responds with an even bigger one, causing one of the doors to shake off its hinges, and even knocking over some trees in the distance. The guys are blown away, and Trent suggests they make Shawn captain. They all agree and cheer Shawn on for a speech.
The contestants return to the mess hall where Chris announces the challenge. He is interrupted by Max asking if they finally made breakfast, causing him and Chef to laugh yet again. Heather is annoyed and asks them why they keep laughing, so Chris tells the campers that the challenge is called The Brunch Of Disgustingness. Everyone will be served a nine course meal, and everyone on each team must finish the dish to get a point, and of course, most points at the end wins. However, everything being served is to be extremely gross. Chris explains that the winning team will get to spend two days at a five-star resort being pampered to their liking, while the losers are stuck at Camp Wawanakwa with Chef.
The guys and girls are presented with the first course: meatballs. Literally. As Owen chows down on his plate, Chef explains that these are beef testicles, causing Owen to frantically spit the food out onto Damien. The girls are also grossed out, but the boys can’t muster up the courage to eat something so personal, so they begin to fall behind. Eventually it’s down to Dawn, who refuses to eat meat, and the rest of the guys, who eventually give up on the inhumane act. Heather tries to pressure Dawn into eating the testicles but Dawn won’t budge. Chris says that while neither team completed the meal, the females performed better, so he gives them a point. He then tells the teams that from now on, the entire team must finish the food to get a point, with no exceptions.
Confessional:
Heather: Dawn’s “morals” might cause us to lose the challenge. I can’t let that tree hugger keep me away from a pedicure.
Chris reveals the next meal to be pizza, which gets the guys excited. However, it just so happens to be that the toppings are live grasshoppers, jellyfish, and live anchovies. Zoey is worried about how dangerous eating jellyfish sounds, but Chris insists that the ones Chef put on the pizzas are completely harmless, causing Chef to look suspiciously nervous all of a sudden. Owen easily gulps down his slice, and reaches for a second, but Shawn stops him, explaining that everyone needs to have a slice. Katie takes a bite of the pizza, and ends up freaking out when she realises she bit a grasshopper’s head off.
Confessional:
Trent: When I was a kid, my parents used to hold me down and force feed me broccoli. They only did it because broccoli is… (Gags) Good for you.
Trent is the last member of the boys to eat the pizza, so he tells Shawn to pin him down while Damien feeds him the pizza, and to not stop no matter how much he panics and fights. Shawn and Damien exchange glances before agreeing, and we see Shawn holding down Trent as he explains that it was just a joke. Damien ends up feeding Trent the pizza slice, winning the guys their first point.
Confessional:
Trent: It wasn’t that bad. I was playing it up for the cameras, you know, to boost ratings. I don’t really mind beef testicles or live grasshopper pizza with jellyfi- (Throws up)
Next up, earthworms covered in snail slime and hairballs. And although the girls put up a good fight, the guys use blindfolds and clothespins to help them believe they’re eating spaghetti. Somehow, it works, scoring them another point.
Chris says that no multi-course meal is complete without soup, so he reveals the next dish to be french bunion soup with hangnail crackers. Sammy decides that if the boys can use blindfolds, the girls can use some tricks of their own. She grabs some funnels from Chef’s kitchen and uses them to down the soup without tasting it. The funnels outspeed even Owen’s appetite, so the girls tie it up.
We then go through a montage of the last five courses. Giant balls of pre-chewed gum, point to guys. Skunk stink smoothies, point to girls. Sandals with caulk icing, point to guys. Garbage can soup, point to girls.
Eventually the campers make it to the final round, and since the score is tied four to four, Chris reminds them that whoever wins this round gets the reward. The campers wait to see what horrible concoction they must eat next, but Chef brings out what looks like normal hot dogs. Chris announces that it’s actually dolphin wieners, but the news doesn’t seem to make much of a difference. However, Dawn is quite upset, saying that eating animals is horrible enough, but dolphins cross the line. Similarly, Damien refuses to eat the hot dog because he finds dolphins super cute and can’t stand to eat one.
Confessional:
Chef: I slave over a hot stove cooking dolphin, no appreciation.
Seeing as neither team gets a point to break the tie, Chris decides that they’ll go to an eat-off. He asks the team who they think has the strongest stomach out of them, and after some consideration, the girls pick Zoey while the boys pick Owen without a second thought. Chris says that whoever can drink more glasses of blended cockroach wins the reward for their team. The two start downing the disgusting drink, and are horrified at its taste. When there’s only three shot glasses left, something gets stuck in Zoey’s throat, giving Owen the opportunity to drink the rest, winning the challenge.
Zoey then pukes up the drinks, and finds what she was choking on. Being a completely intact cockroach. This display causes some of the other campers to hurl as well, which in turn ends up being a chain reaction of people emptying their bowels. Even Chris and Chef start gagging as they wait for everyone to recover.
Chris narrates the aftermath of the challenge, with the guys getting on a yacht while the girls are left behind. And as Chris does his outro, the cameras zoom in on one specific object: The vhs tape.
Returnee Candidates:
Duncan - 3
Leshawna - 2
Scott - 1
Lightning - 1
And the wheel of names picks…
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Immunity Nominees:
Shawn - 2
Damien - 2
Sammy - 1
Dawn - 1
Tiebreaker results:
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No Pain, No Game
The episode opens with Dawn and Sammy discussing strategy on the beach. Dawn tells Sammy that she can’t trust Heather, but she’s unconvinced. She explains how Heather’s been treating her nicely, and doesn’t listen when Dawn tries to tell her that Heather’s just getting on her good side in order to use her.
A yacht pulls up to the dock, and the guys are dropped off. They’re bragging to each other about how pampered they were, and end up inadvertently making the girls annoyed with them for showing off. Owen brings a tray of chocolates for Katie, but Heather slaps it out of his hands and into the water.
The contestants then hear Chris announce over the loudspeakers that they have finally reached the merge, and that it is every camper for themselves. He then says that he has a little surprise for them as they hear a horn off in the distance. Another, smaller yacht has appeared, carrying Duncan and Chase. Chris explains that they are back by popular demand, and will be returning to the game. Heather asks how they were ever favorites with the audience, and Chris admits that they aren’t, but he and the producers liked them. Shawn reminds Chris of how he always said that no one could ever return to the island, so Chris tells Shawn that he lied.
The yacht stops at the dock, and while Chase seems pretty happy to be back on the show, Duncan is not. He notices that Axel isn’t there and makes fun of her for being eliminated right after him. Shawn defends Axel and insults Duncan back, causing them to almost get into a fight. However Chase breaks the two up and tells them to save the fighting for the next challenge.
Confessional:
Shawn: I can’t believe Duncan insulted Axel like that! She’s such a great person- I mean such a great survivalist. I’m gonna make him pay for that.
Chase: Apparently, when Emma told everyone on national television that I cut her brakes, I lost hundreds of subscribers! So now that I’m back on this show, I’m going to pull pranks and do the most outrageous stunts! I’m sure Chris will thank me once this show's ratings go up.
Chris tells the campers to meet him at the outdoor amphitheater for the challenge, which Owen is excited for. He attempts to give Max a high five, but Max reminds Owen about how Chris said it’s everyone for themselves. On their way to the amphitheater, Damien asks Dawn to fill him in on what happened while he was away.
Dawn: Heather’s been acting nice to Sammy, but she’s just trying to manipulate her.
Damien: Aren’t you and Sammy friends? I’m sure she’d understand if you told her.
Dawn: I tried, but I guess that meeting Trent made her more trusting of other people, because she at least wants to give Heather a chance.
Damien: Great. With no more teams, there’s nothing stopping Heather from sabotaging everyone’s game. It'd be a nice change of pace if she turned out to be a good person.
Dawn: I highly doubt it. I can sense in her aura that her anger stems back to her childhood.
Damien: I always forget that you can do that soul reading thing. It still creeps me out.
At the amphitheater, Chris has set up some makeshift gameshow rafters out of household furniture. He says that today’s challenge will be a twist on the classic game of Say Uncle. Contestants will be put through tests of endurance, aptly named tortures. If they chicken out or fail to last ten seconds, they will be eliminated. The last camper remaining will be rewarded with immunity and a decked out trailer to take home after the show.
Chris picks Max to go first and spins the Wheel Of Misfortune to decide his torture. The wheel lands on turtle puck shots, so Max has to stand unprotected in a hockey net while Chef pelts him with very angry snapping turtles. Max dodges some turtles but gets distracted when he stops to laugh at one that's stuck in the net. Chef then hits a direct shot, causing him to let out a pained yelp. More turtles hit Max, and the final one nails him right in the kiwis, but he stays in the goal so he gets to move onto the next round.
Zoey gets marshmallow waxing, so she has to endure being waxed by molten marshmallows. Once the marshmallows go on, Zoey starts screaming, but she’s muffled from under the molten mask. She lasts the ten seconds, so Chef takes the marshmallows off to reveal that the wax had actually worked. And as a bonus, Zoey gets to move on.
Chris tells Zoey that since she did so well, she gets to choose who goes next. However, he says that if whoever she picks survives the ten seconds, she goes out instead. Zoey thinks for a bit, and Heather starts whispering something in her ear. After Heather finishes, Zoey sighs and chooses Dawn.
Confessional:
Zoey: Apparently Dawn is catching on to what Heather’s trying to do with Sammy, so she wants to keep Dawn from winning immunity. I didn’t like the idea but Heather’s threatening to kick me out of the alliance after I didn’t break up Owen and Katie, so I have no choice.
Dawn gets lake leeches, so she has to survive in a barrel of leeches for ten seconds. Damien steps up and asks Chris if he can do the torture instead of Dawn. Chris tells him that he can, but if he fails, both he and Dawn will be out. Damien gets in and it’s clear the leeches aren’t sitting well with him. Eventually he can’t take it anymore and jumps out of the barrel covered in leeches. As he tries to get the leeches off him, Chris says that he had just missed the ten second mark, so he and Dawn are out.
It’s montage time and we get to see each contestant’s torture. Shawn wears wooden shorts while a woodpecker chips at it, success. Duncan gets his nose hairs plucked, success. Trent gets constricted by a snake, failure. Chase wears a shirt of bees, success. Heather has to jump over some skunks, failure. Sammy listens to some new age music, success. Katie must get a haircut from Chef with a chainsaw, failure. Owen goes to town on ice cream and has to survive a brain freeze, failure.
This leaves Duncan, Zoey, Max, Sammy, Shawn, and Chase for round two.
First up is Shawn, who gets electric eel defibrillation. Chef grabs some electric eels and shocks Shawn with it. To everyone’s surprise, not only does Shawn last the ten seconds, but he also seems completely unharmed.
Confessional:
Shawn: When you’re setting up a live electric fence for the zombie apocalypse, you’re going to electrocute yourself. A lot. Thankfully it means that now I’m practically invincible to being shocked!
Seeing as Shawn was unfazed by his torture, Chris lets him choose the next person to go. Shawn chooses Duncan, who gives him an angry glare.
Duncan gets the bigfoot storage container, in which he must spend ten seconds in a crate with the fabled Sasquatchanakwa. The crate in question is shaking violently and there is growling coming from inside. Duncan shoots another look at Shawn before going in. We hear fighting and Duncan insulting Sasquatchanakwa, before he kicks down the crate’s door while dragging Sasquatchanakwa behind him in a headlock. Chris congratulates Duncan on not only surviving, but somehow beating Sasquatchanakwa in a fight. However, he tells Duncan that since he left the crate of his own accord before the ten seconds was up, he is still eliminated. Duncan is furious by this technicality and swears to Shawn that he’ll get back at him, but Shawn just explains that that’s what happens when he insults Axel.
Chase gets jellyfish scuba diving, so he has to swim in an aquarium tank while dodging a box jellyfish. Some of the contestants gasp at how dangerous the torture is, but Chase eagerly agrees to do it. While in the tank, he swims around the jellyfish and taunts it. The box jellyfish stings him, but he makes it the ten seconds. Chris asks Chase if he needs to go to the infirmary, but he refuses, despite clearly being in pain.
Chris lets Chase choose the next victim, and he chooses by closing his eyes and picking randomly. He lands on Sammy, and asks Chris if he can choose the dare. Chris lets him pick from the Wheel Of Misfortune, and Chase explains that he’s looking for the best, most unbelievable dare. He picks the poison ivy spa treatment, and is disappointed when Sammy chooses to be eliminated instead.
The last two to go this round are Max and Zoey, and both fail at alligator wrestling and literal waterboarding respectively. (The latter of which Chris says he’s doing behind the producer’s back.) This means that Chase and Shawn are the last two remaining, and Chase isn’t looking too good. Damien asks Chase if he’s doing okay and he explains that other than the fact that he can’t feel his spine, he’s great. After hearing that statement, Chris lets Shawn go first.
Shawn gets the grizzly bear log roll, so Chris brings him and the rest of the campers out to the lake where the torture will take place. Chris explains that Shawn must log roll against Molotov the Bear, who happens to be the European log rolling champion for the past twelve years. Plus, Shawn and Molotov will be log rolling over piranha infested waters. Shawn has a stare off with Molotov before he steps onto the log, and the two start going. Shawn has trouble keeping up with Molotov, but soon gets the hang of it. He jumps on the log, and upon landing gets it to stop rolling. This causes Molotov to fall in the water, meaning Shawn moves on.
It’s Chase’ turn, and the jellyfish sting is definitely kicking in. He passes out, so Chris has Chef send him to the infirmary to get treated for the sting. He then announces that Shawn wins immunity and the trailer. As for everyone else, Chris tells them to get ready to vote between themselves.
Later, Dawn thanks Damien for taking the leech challenge instead of her, even if he failed. Damien asks her if she made any progress on getting to Sammy, and her answer disappoints him. He then realizes that Trent would probably have a better time convincing Sammy and that they should tell him what’s happening.
Max, Owen, and Katie are chatting and Max tells them that while he appreciates their help, he’s going to work alone from now on. He thanks them for being his friends and says that he has more evil inventions to tend to. After he leaves, Katie tells Owen that going alone is probably going to go bad for Max in one way or another, and that she’ll miss him.
Duncan finds Heather near the mess hall and tells her that as much as he hates to admit it, he needs allies, and that she’s his best bet. She finds his desperation to be convincing enough and tells him he can join her, but that he must be useful to be worth her protection.
Confessional:
Duncan: With Shawn having immunity, it wouldn’t take much for him to get votes against me. I hate the idea of working for Heather, but it’s not like I have much choice.
Vote off someone other than Shawn, nominate someone for immunity, and come up with any plot points you want to see later.

Hey guys, I saw a comment on James post on YT about an Every Animal Challenge and I found very interesting, so I did one myself and want to share with you and give this idea to James too, if he likes.
General rules: - You can do one animal at a time or all at once, as you wish - You must have full friendship with any and every animal you have - Aging of Sims and animals must be on, you choose the speed - If an animal dies in a way other than old age, the challenge for that animal must be restarted; if it dies of old age and hasn't completed the tasks, it must also start from scratch - You cannot use cheats for animals or to evolve skills, only for Sim needs (for me it's annoying sometimes) - Horses, cats, and dogs need to be adopted - All animals must be named, including wild ones
Dog - Adopt a dog - Maximize the Training Skill - Collect golden poop
Cat - Have kittens - Adopt a cat
Raccoon - Create a raccoon in CAS
Fox - Create a fox in CAS
Horse - Adopt a horse - Build a stable - Maximize two horse skills - Collect outstanding manure - See the ghost horse
Fish - Catch all rare fish: rainbowfish, sturgeon, blacktip shark with red tail, piranha, mountain lionfish, pufferfish, vampire squid, eletric eel, treefish, batfish, and anglerfish. - Build a pond - Place all rare fish in this pond
Frog - Breed a new frog species - Collect one frog in each world
Birds - Befriend a flock of wild birds - Unlock the bird house, put it on your lot and move the flock there - Receive at least three gifts from the flock
Rabbits - Have a rabbit hole on the lot - Ask a rabbit for gardening help - Receive at least three gifts from the rabbit
Cow - Give a treat of each type and collect the resulting milk - Win first place at the Finchwick Fair with your cow - Knit a sweater for the cow
Llama - Shear rainbow wool and make a sweater - Knit a sweater for the llama
Bees - Attack someone with a swarm of bees
Insects (see the list) - Collect 1 common, uncommon, and rare insect - Make a recipe with an insect
Insect farm - Have a farm for each insect - Have energy through biofuel - Make a recipe with the collected flour insect
Goat - Milk the goat and make a recipe with the milk - Sell this dish at the food stall
Sheep - Ask to help in the garden - Collect wool and make an embroidery for decoration or sale
Chicken - Collect a golden egg - Win first place at the fair with the chicken
Mini pets (from My First Pet Stuff) - Complete the collection of postcards from the 4 animals

Hi all,
Will be joining a 1000 pts league next month and have to supply my list within a week. I could use your thoughts on my choices.
Info: - League is known to have more tank heavy lists than chaff lists. - A lot of marines lists with termies and normal marines. - In the list you're only allowed to pick two of the same units instead of three. - I will not play Sunrays and Hammerheads. I do have Broadsides but can't attach the missle pods to them.
General tactics: - Starscythe: clear the chaff at my opponents DZ. Then hop back up to kill whatever chaff is next. - Sunforge: Hit the biggest enemy threat and make use of the grenade racks to inflict some final mortal wounds. - Ghostkeels: Both there to draw attention and to fck around while taking over one or two objectives. Picked a profile for general dmg and one anti tank so I'll be good on both fields. - Stealthsuits: My own little infantry buddies. Take, probably the home, objective and guide. Also some nice final infantry killers.
Pitfalls: - I'm heavy on vehicles so Bring it Down is not in my favor. However, it's still a friendly league and most of the time people don't pick fixed even if they know about BiD. - I only have 6 units. This is not much to cover the board and take objectives. Meaning I have to make thorough decisions on where to place my units. Two deep striking and lone op units do help a bit. - I will not be screening and accept opponents deep strikers. The board is just too big to screen effectively with 1000 pts.
Food for thought: - I'm doubting to swap out one Ghostkeel for a Shadowsun and a Kroot Carnivor unit. This way I have a dedicated chaff that can hold my own objective and make it sticky and can be used as a general secondaries unit as well. I like Shadowsun and have learned how to play with her. Even though she's no Ghostkeel, she really packs a punch as well and I maintain my two lone op units.

• Take out one Ghostkeel and make the Stealth Suits 6 man squads to be actual infantry. Leaves points to add a Piranha as well for secondaries.
  
• Take out the Coldstar for Farsight since I will still only be wounding on 4 or 5 with the coldstar. However, I will loose the Grenade Racks and the ability to move to another spot on the map quickly after they've done their job.
  

List: League - The fly-by crew (980 Points)
T’au Empire Retaliation Cadre Incursion (1000 Points)
CHARACTERS
Commander in Coldstar Battlesuit (130 Points) • Warlord • 1x Battlesuit fists 4x Fusion blaster 2x Shield Drone • Enhancements: Internal Grenade Racks
Commander in Enforcer Battlesuit (110 Points) • 1x Battlesuit fists 2x Shield Drone 4x T’au flamer • Enhancements: Starflare Ignition System
OTHER DATASHEETS
Crisis Starscythe Battlesuits (130 Points) • 1x Crisis Starscythe Shas’vre • 1x Battlesuit fists 1x Marker Drone 1x Shield Drone 1x T’au flamer 1x T’au flamer • 2x Crisis Starscythe Shas’ui • 2x Battlesuit fists 2x Gun Drone 2x Shield Drone 4x T’au flamer
Crisis Sunforge Battlesuits (170 Points) • 1x Crisis Sunforge Shas’vre • 1x Battlesuit fists 2x Fusion blaster 1x Gun Drone 1x Shield Drone • 2x Crisis Sunforge Shas’ui • 2x Battlesuit fists 4x Fusion blaster 2x Gun Drone 2x Shield Drone
Ghostkeel Battlesuit (160 Points) • 1x Battlesuit Support System 1x Fusion collider 1x Ghostkeel fists 1x Twin fusion blaster
Ghostkeel Battlesuit (160 Points) • 1x Battlesuit Support System 1x Cyclic ion raker 1x Ghostkeel fists 1x Twin T’au flamer
Stealth Battlesuits (60 Points) • 1x Stealth Shas’vre • 1x Battlesuit Support System 1x Battlesuit fists 1x Fusion blaster 1x Gun Drone 1x Homing Beacon 1x Marker Drone • 2x Stealth Shas’ui • 2x Battlesuit fists 2x Burst cannon
Stealth Battlesuits (60 Points) • 1x Stealth Shas’vre • 1x Battlesuit Support System 1x Battlesuit fists 1x Fusion blaster 1x Gun Drone 1x Homing Beacon 1x Marker Drone • 2x Stealth Shas’ui • 2x Battlesuit fists 2x Burst cannon

What happened last week?
https://preview.redd.it/x5u2pqnpz50d1.png?width=933&format=png&auto=webp&s=8f051745ab1f409d96f35f8de6699544a1bd2563
https://preview.redd.it/q057kt0sz50d1.png?width=947&format=png&auto=webp&s=806ecdd5310fef3ba0bba5a9238006b956987b75
What to watch for next week?
all eyes will be on the U.S. CPI release on Wednesday. On an annual basis, headline CPI is projected to decline to 3.4% from 3.5%, and core CPI, which excludes food and energy, is expected to tick down to 3.6% from 3.8%1. If realized, it would be a good first step in reestablishing a pattern of better readings that would be more consistent with moderating prices.
open ai announcement = calls?

• Monday: Open AI announcements
• Tuesday: HD , BABA
• Wednesday: CPI, 13f deadline
• Thursday: WMT
• Friday:

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Monday:

Thermal Energy Announces $1.9 million Turn-key Heat Recovery Project for a Global Materials Company - TMG.v

has announced a $1.9 million carbon reduction and energy efficiency solution for a global materials company. All figures are shown in CAD.As a market leader, this customer accepts its role in forging the industry's path to a low-carbon economy, and has engaged with the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) to validate their ambitious scope 1 and scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions targets. This $1.9 million Turn-key project is expected to save the customer over $980,000 annually on its energy bill, reduce co2 emissions by 977 tonnes per year and improve pollution prevention and control.

Liberty Defense Ships HEXWAVE's to Major Canadian Airport to Provide Enhanced Screening - SCAN.v

announce that it has shipped HEXWAVE systems to a major airport in Canada for various screening applications.Unlike weapon detection technology, HEXWAVE uses millimeter wave, advanced 3D imaging and AI to detect all types of concealed metallic and non-metallic threats and other prohibited items – without the passenger having to divest common items.

VSBLTY Announces Assumption of Winkel Media Contract - VSBY.cse

announces that a definitive agreement has been reached assume the contract supporting Winkel Media effective February 1, 2024.
VSBLTY’s wholly-owned subsidiary, VSBLTY SPV I, LLC, will assume the balance of the debt of approximately $2.16M USD from Creative Climate Capital, LLC (CCC) In addition, CCC has agreed to providing an additional allocation of $800K USD in a credit facility for the general operating requirements of VSBLTY

Titanium Transportation Group Completes Sale of Non-Core Assets for Gross Proceeds of $4.5M - TTNM

announced that it has completed the sale of non-core, undeveloped land assets, totalling approximately 21 acres, in Cornwall, Ontario for gross proceeds of $4.5 million in cash. All amounts are in Canadian currency. Proceeds of the sale will be used to pay down Company debt.

PIRANHA Receives Unanimous Approval From Massachusetts Plumbing and Gas Fitting Board for State Expansion - SHRC.cse

announce that it has received unanimous approval from the Massachusetts Board of State Examiners of Plumbers and Gas Fitters for ten PIRANHA pilot sites in the state. This pilot project aims to demonstrate the efficacy of WET across multiple sectors and building types.
The Company's application to the Massachusetts Plumber and Gas Fitter Board garnered strong backing from the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices (“UA”) of Massachusetts, an influential union representing approximately 375,000 skilled plumbers, pipe fitters, and other industry professionals across the state.

Zentek and Triera Biosciences Ltd. Achieve Positive Results Against Avian Influenza (H5N1) using Multivalent Aptamer Technology - ZEN.v

announces that its wholly-owned subsidiary Triera Biosciences Ltd. ("Triera") has prioritized the development of a prophylaxis and therapeutic for highly pathogenic avian influenza ("HPAI") and reports initial test results.
Background and Highlights:
Universal aptamer has been selected for influenza virus, including H5N1
Binding affinity of influenza aptamer is better than aptamer used for SARS-CoV-2, which has demonstrated improved protection over leading monoclonal antibodies in animal models
Development prioritized given current global HPAI H5N1 outbreak. In vivo testing to begin immediately

Tuesday:

Magellan Aerospace Signs Agreement With Peraton to Support NASA Sounding Rocket Program - MGL.to

announced today that it would provide Black Brant vehicles and hardware to Peraton in support of the NASA Sounding Rocket Program. Under the terms of the five-year agreement Magellan will supply NASA’s annual requirements and could generate revenues up to a maximum of $75 million.

Wednesday:

Kraken Robotics Receives $3.5 Million of Orders for Subsea Security Equipment - PNG.v

announces that it has received an order for spares and sustainment of its KATFISH™ Mine Counter Measures (“MCM”) solution totalling $2.2 million. In addition, the Company received an order for AquaPix® synthetic aperture sonars (SAS) totalling $1.3 million. These systems will be integrated to Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) from two new navy customers for use in minehunting and subsea infrastructure security applications. Both customer details cannot be disclosed. Deliveries will occur in 2024.

Gatekeeper Announces $3M in Orders for Mobile Data Collectors and Video on 1,400 School Buses - GSI.v

announce it has received purchase contracts for approximately US$2.2 million (approximately C$3 million) from a student transportation services company to install Mobile Data Collectors (MDCs) and video solutions on approximately 1,400 school buses.

Liberty Defense Announces Award of HEXWAVE to Latin America - SCAN.v

Anounce that its HEXWAVE™ system has been purchased by a Juvenile Correctional Facility in Santiago, Chile, with deployment scheduled for this summer.The system was purchased by Setronix Chile S.A., a leading security company with over 30 years of experience deploying and maintaining cutting-edge technology solutions for security applications throughout Chile. The system will be operated by SENAME, the National Minors' Service (Servicio Nacional de Menores), a government agency managed by the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights.

Thursday:

x

Friday:

125 MW Awarded in Ontario LT1 RFP: Boralex consolidates its position as a leading battery storage developer in Canada - BLX.to

announced the selection of the Oxford Battery Energy Storage project totalling 125 MW of nameplate capacity. This project was selected by Ontario’s Independent Electricity Systems Operator (IESO) further to its Long-Term Request for Proposals (LT1 RFP). This project adds to Boralex’s existing battery energy storage project portfolio which includes the 300 MW Hagersville and the 80 MW Tilbury projects, which were selected by the IESO in last year's solicitation.

BSB news For Week #80, May 6th, 2024

[Okay, so the first 2 POVs on this happen the night after the almost-riot. The remaining 3 happen the next night.
That being said, interaction is welcome on all!]

Sergeant Hollie Rentz squinted at the heavily-creased map of Westbridge laid out on top of the Trojan as she held a stablight over it. In one spot on the map was the Valyrran maintenence depot, as had been labelled by the person she'd asked at Westbridge Headquarters. And somewhere (hopefully) nearby was her, Sergeant Malkin's Trojan and driver that she was borrowing, and her Chimera with a conked-out engine being towed behind it on a heavy-duty trailer.
In other words, the Nanthrus outback girl-turned-Chimera squadron commander was currently lost and freezing her ass off in what she considered to be a nighttime urban hellscape.
"You know that handheld maps don't come with 'you are here' symbols, right?" The (Nanthrus) engineer driver helpfully chimed in from his driver's hatch; Rentz simply grunted ambiguously.
"You're gonna have to ask for directions."
Rentz didn't even grunt at that.
"Fine then, I, the engineer, will go and ask the nearest Valyrran for directions. I'm sure I'll be much more respectful about it than you could ever be."
Hollie closed her eyes for a moment as she took a deep breathe, stood up, walked to the edge of the Trojan's deck and hopped down to look for someone to approach. Many of the Valyrran contingent were still confined to quarters from the almost-brawl earlier that day, but so many were now starting to show up that it didn't take too long.
"Excuse me, could you please point me in the direction of the maintenence depot?" She asked.

On the opposite side of town at the Taronian Barracks, they were sitting around a campfire they had built in the fairly large amount of empty space in the warehouse being used as a motorpool. 3rd and 4th Squads and the missile teams were on watch at the lighthouse and tanker respectively, and the engineers were busy finishing repairs on said tanker, leaving 1st and 2nd Squads to enjoy the fire... well, most of the 2 squads. Someone needed to be on sentry duty, and there was also the matter of Privates Coris Reubank and Laina Karpe, who had snuck off for some private time together. This proved to be a major topic of discussion for the Platoon, as no one had predicted the pair would become an item; their only real interaction beforehand was when the Stoneforged woman cuffed the Nanthrus man on the back of the head for a joke made whilst drunk.
All things considered they were in a fairly good mood, as they'd managed to avoid a massive food riot that day. It also helped that, speaking of food, someone had managed to get a small shipment of grox meat in from the Stoneforged. But for Corporal Isaand Thane, the most interesting thing currently around the fire was the object Private Rodney was fiddling with; it was made of a big curved wooden body and a long wooden neck with a set of strings running along it. "Hey Robby, what's that?"
Rodney looked up from his fiddling. "Oh, this is an instrument called a 'guy-tar', I bought it off a local. Used to have one back on the Stoneforged, but I lost it in a game of Tarot. Been lookin' for a new one ever since."
"Huh." Corporal Baker spoke up, as others were paying attention now. "So are you gonna play it?"
"Yep, as soon as I finish tuning it..." Rodney said as he carefully turned a knob at the top of the instrument's neck.

Corporal Tanner Wells shivered slightly less than before as Tripwire-1's engine exhaust warmed up the open-air turret. Was this the best idea for his overall health? Absolutely. Dying from lung cancer in 20 years was much preferable to freezing to death while your open-top tank was on perimeter duty, parked in a freshly-cut dugout just behind the frontline infantry trenches.
"Feeling better?" Captain Vallorie Tallek asked over the intercomm from her (heated) commander's compartment at the front of the vehicle.
"Yeah, somewhat..." Tanner responded.
"Well don't get used to it, cause I can only have the engine on for 10 minutes or we'll be lit up like a Sangiunala Tree for any xenos watching."
"At this point I might prefer a seeker missile over the cold." Tanner grumbled. "At least it knows how to find some Throne-damned heat."
But as he tried to make the most of the Hydra engine's warmth while it lasted, Tanner heard boots crunching snow behind him; he turned to see an engineer walking up. "Hey, you're Tanner, right?" He asked.
"Yeah, that's me."
"I've got a letter for ya'..."

Lieutenant Mathew Rykelin watched the Imperial gunship through his thermal magnoculars as it passed far to the north. Despite himself, he was nervous; this was just the first night of the 4-night journey back across the Ice Breaker Plains to Sha'Yo Gate, and if his little convoy of 13 Tauruses and one Piranha got spotted now, there would be hell to pay.
No, it would be fine, he told himself. The Imperial aircraft had shown no signs of changing course to investigate, as it would probably have done if it detected something.
And besides, there was almost no chance that thing was equipped with the sensors needed to pick his light vehicles out in the pitch dark, right?

Captain Maja Pekala was squinting from the residual light even before she poked her head up above that final ridge. Once she finally did, it took a moment for her eyes to adjust, but after that she finally got her first in-person look at Fort Ko'Var, formerly known as Saint's Gate.
The primarily Rebel-turned-Imperial Guard Light Battalion of the Taronian 8th had fought it's way north for several days' worth of running skirmishes with T'au and T'au Auxilia rearguard forces, clearing the way from Waycross Road all the way to the Fort that had been designated their next objective.
As Pekala pulled out a pict recorder, she couldn't help but marvel at how many times she'd imagined this moment, sneaking up this close to the T'au bastion of the northern mountains. But rarely had she imagined herself and her rebels to be the vanguard of an entire Imperial Guard army...
[Fort Ko'Var Intel Brief coming in the near-future...]

Great to see people taking a stand here.
It has been bewildering to see prices rise unabated for so long, and I offer some observations drawing from my background in economics, and having grown up in a country where everything is dirt cheap:
The recent affordability crisis, be it groceries or otherwise, is attributable in part to the government not fully appreciating the importance of competition in the regulation of free markets. An example of these actions to which I refer is allowing large mergers to occur, effectively creating monopolies / oligopolies leaving consumers little choice when companies raise prices.
In free markets, companies provide goods and services to consumers like you and me for a fee. It is in the interest of those companies to raise that fee until profits start to decline, marked by consumers flocking to the competition. More competitors is more likely to trigger a prisoner's dilemma -- in other words, a company in the industry defects to undercut its peers in hopes of gaining greater market share. Fewer competitors can lead to price collusion, in which all companies fix prices in a decentralized manner.
This mechanism defines prices, above cost, we see on store shelves. Now what's been observed in Canada is that large corporations are able to raise prices without seeing their profit decline. This suggests that on aggregate, Canadian consumers lack options and/or are price insensitive (I know this is an outlandish statement to make but I will attempt to justify this in the following paragraphs). While we are taking to social media to express our grievances, we haven't put our money where our mouth is (yet) because our actions do not reflect our grievances -- we continue to shop at the same stores we are dissatisfied with.
What is known with a high degree of certainty is that if companies see profits continue to rise in response to their hiking profit margins, prices will continue to go up irrespective of their public rhetoric.
I will now address the claim I made earlier regarding Canadians being price-insensitive: I grew up in a developing country where most people went to great lengths to find the cheapest bargains. In turn prices of food and other goods differ order of 5-15% from shop to shop. This was because any shop that over charged saw notable and immediate decline in their business. When I came to Canada, it was a surprise to see how stores can stock identical or near identical produce at 50-300% price difference. These are stores a couple blocks apart (think Whole Foods versus Asian grocer selling nuts, orange juice, chips, etc.). Such things do not exist in countries where everything is dirt cheap, and sellers there are roughly equally profit-maximizing as those here.
This is why I suggest that consumer behavior is quite different in first world countries. People who can pay are more willing to pay for convenience, recognized brands, organic, non-GMO, and gluten free labels. Although I applaud this boycotting endeavour, I would note there be no such dramatic display in the country I grew up. Instead any company that overcharges would just slowly go out of business, because the free market there is like a lake full of piranhas, and every day is an exercise in boycotting. (I exaggerate for effect here, but it is not far from reality)
To my point, most well-off Canadians I know here would not shop in an Asian grocery store or a farmer's market, or any places that aren’t air conditioned or have nice interior decorations. Those places exist and groceries there are considerably cheaper. They get their goods from some of the same suppliers; for example, Unico sells the same canned tomatoes to dollar stores as they do to Loblaws.
That's not to fault anyone. My parents are such people -- they buy organic non-GMO from high-end grocery stores, and they've earned the right to live how they want. And it's possible that purchasing decisions from the wealthier portion of the population is influencing price adversely, because convenience and familiarity is worth more to them than any marginal changes in price. They have their preferences as we do ours. If this is a sizeable effect, to me the answer points to increasing national competition among companies, so consumers across all economic brackets have more equal say in determining price.
My parting note is to consider extending the duration of the boycott indefinitely. Be price sensitive shoppers, because let's face it, the worst quality, GMO, non-organic groceries here is healthier than the best stuff I could buy in the country I grew up, and lots of people are living just fine there, and almost everything we eat has already been genetically modified in the last 50 years if not the immediate crop yield. And perhaps remember we're paying for groceries at the end of the day, not interior decoration, not air conditioning, not graphic design, not branding on cardboard you're just going to throw out.
Sorry for typos — entire thing was written on my phone, which has a tiny keyboard and shitty autocorrect.

this has 3 new, but unfinished biomes
so i will try to finish them ( Some existing animals will change biomes )
( I won't change any tiers, no matter how unrealistic they are )
River
Tier 1: Tadpole
Tier 2: Frog
Tier 3: Salmon ( Jumps )
Tier 4: Pond Turtle
Tier 5: Pike
Tier 6: Piranha ( Spawns Clones )
Tier 7: Otter ( Dashes and Grabs )
Tier 8: Alligator Gar ( Charges, Grabs, and Shakes enemies )
Tier 9: Beaver
Tier 10: Pelican
Tier 11: Manatee/ Crocodile
Tier 12: Catfish
Tier 13: Electric Eel
Tier 14: Giant Freshwater Stingray ( Stings behind it )
Tier 15: Loch Ness Monster ( Rips and Tears
Tier 16: River Monster ( Lunges, and Submerges Animals )
Reef
Tier 1: Clownfish
Tier 2: Blue Tang ( Extra Boost )
Tier 3: Horseshoe Crab
Tier 4: Sea Robin
Tier 5: Cuttlefish
Tier 6: Scorpion Fish ( Hides )
Tier 7: Sea Turtle ( Replaced by Tuna, which uses the ability ( Charge ) )
Tier 8: Lionfish ( Extend Fins )
Tier 9: Barracuda ( Ambush Dash )
Tier 10: Moray Eel ( Lunges, and Double Bites )
Tier 11: Manta Ray ( Flutters, Speeding it up )
Tier 12: Tiger Shark ( Swift Dash )
Tier 13: Sunfish ( Heals Quickly )
Tier 14: Whale Shark ( Can Consume Animals )
Tier 15: Karkinos
Tier 16: Reef Monster ( Creates Coral Spawns, that deal damage
Jungle
Tier 1: Shrew
Tier 2: Gecko ( Extra Boost )
Tier 3: Chameleon ( Camouflages )
Tier 4: Tree Viper ( Lunges, and Bites )
Tier 5: Capybara ( Spawns Food )
Tier 6: Ocelot ( Pounces )
Tier 7: Parrot ( Skreeks )
Tier 8: Owl ( Can Fly with Prey )
Tier 9: Gorilla
Tier 10: Sloth
Tier 11: Tiger
Tier 12: Tortoise
Tier 13: Alligator
Tier 14: Giant Spider
Tier 15: Stegosaurus
Tier 16: Jungle Monster ( Uses it's tongue as a grappling Hook

“Get the fuck out of my house with this ‘ old country’ shit Sylvia, I’m serious. “ I hear my dad say from the kitchen downstairs.
“I give children and idiots three warnings. That’s your first. “ It takes me a second to recognize my aunt’s voice. I’ve only met her a handful of times, and it’s nearly 2am.
“Syl, he’s right, this is crazy. I’m Roma, I’m proud, but your part of the family, and mine are two separate things. “ My mom interjects. Her voice is calm and level.
I woke up about half way through whatever is going on, and I’m fuzzy on the details, but everyone involved is three kinds of pissed.
“So you say, but just because you ignore the other side, doesn’t mean the other side ignores you. “ Aunt Syl replies, I could never quite place her accent, but it makes her statement all the more sinister.
“Might as well make that the family motto.
Syl, there are a couple dozen other kids Nikolas’ age in the family. Half of which are already hip deep in whatever is going on nowadays, you don’t need him. “ Mom isn’t pleading, but I can hear she’s worried.
“Why are we trying to reason with your crazy aunt? Time to go Syl. “ My dad isn’t worried, he’s angry.
“That’s two. “ Aunt Sylvia replies.
I hear a chair squeak then fall to the floor.
“That’s three. “ Sylvia says, her voice is cold, and I swear I could almost hear an echo.
I can hear my dad start to quietly cough, he sounds like he’s trying to talk but can’t. My heart starts to race, I don’t understand what’s going on, but I know it’s bad.
“Syl! Jesus Christ, that’s my husband. “ Mom sounds more offended than scared now. I wish I could say the same.
I stand next to my cracked door, fear beginning to take hold.
I can hear my dad start to take long wheezing breaths, I have no idea if this is a good or bad thing.
“Happy?
Now that any hope of doing this quietly is over, Nikolas and I have a long drive ahead of us. He’s 16, he has a license, yes? “ I hear Sylvia say, sudden footsteps walking up the stairs.
“No, he’s not interested in driving. You can’t take him Syl. “ my mom sounds frantic, Sylvia’s steps are measured and heavy.
“Not interested? You sure we are related? You raise soft children. “ Sylvia ends this with a dismissive laugh.
The few minutes that followed were kind of a blur, with my mom trying to convince me that I was just going to visit family, as if I didn’t just hear everything.
It's a couple hours into a long drive in a small car when my brain finally catches up to the fact that I’m awake, and going 30 miles an hour over the speed limit.
Aunt Syl sits in the driver’s seat, she’s 40 something, olive skinned with pitch-colored hair. Her style, it’s, something.
Her outfit was the middle of a Venn diagram of hippie, punk rock and carpenter. Bracelets, flannel, paisley, and enough piercings I lost count.
“Any chance of putting both hands on the wheel? “ I say, I’m mad, but I don’t even really know why.
She holds up her left arm, and I’m shocked. It’s an ancient looking blued steel prosthetic. She flexes, the clawed, almost mitten-like hand.
“Go through too many steering wheels that way. “ She says with a smirk.
“What’s going on? “ I ask, after an agonizing fifteen minutes of silence.
“You’re a big boy, so if you want the truth, I’ll give it to you. There’s a job that needs to be done, a dangerous job. And I want you to do it.
Now, I want you, not because you’re strong, or smart, or special. We have many strong, smart, special boys.
You, I want, because you’re unknown, and, little one, disposable. “ Sylvia lets this comment hang like rotten fruit.
The next hour goes in silence, at no point do I even entertain the notion this is some kind of joke. Something about this woman’s energy, about the way she carries herself, it scares the shit out of me.
We board a plane, somehow she had all of my travel documents. Even stranger is that we get escorted past the security checkpoints, into first class.
The next words I say to Sylvia are, “You have to put that out! “ as she lights up a short, yellow, hand-rolled cigarette.
She grins, taking a long drag, it smells horrible, the cheapest roughest tobacco odor I’ve encountered.
She relaxes, a cloud of thick, grey smoke forming.
I’m stunned, not a single person says anything. At first I think maybe she’s some kind of, I don’t know, mobster or something.
But that isn’t quite right. No one is looking at her in fear, no one is telling anyone else not to say anything. It’s like no one notices what she’s doing.
“How does she do this? The little boy wonders.
I don’t come offering you a thankless task Nik. I come with an opportunity. “ Sylvia says before crushing the cigarette on the arm of a chair and tossing it into the isle.
I had questions, and between the fear and the confusion I asked every one of them.
The only response she gave me was, “You’ll see when we get there. “.
She was right.
The flight lands, and after an hour or so of driving the world’s oldest pickup through the English countryside, we wind up at an old farm house, in the middle of nowhere outside of Hammersmith.
The sign outside says “ Gritt Auctions” the letters are old, bronze and tarnished, the grounds are littered with car parts, statues, and errata of every type.
Dozens, maybe even a hundred people mill about each stopping for a moment to give a suspicious look at the interloper in their midst.
Sylvia seems amused at my nervousness. I try and give the rough looking folks around me as much space as I can.
“They’re family, mostly, by blood or marriage, with a handful of lost souls and hangers on. “ She explains.
I probably should have guessed, seeing my mom’s family name on the sign, but my brain is basically nothing more than fear, anxiety and jet lag at this point.
“When do I get to know what’s going on? “ I say, waving at a cousin of some form and receive a uniquely English rude gesture in return.
My ear is ringing, and I stumble , the left side of my face burning. I’d say Syl slapped me, but it was more of a polite punch.
“Don’t whine. You’ve been stolen from your mother, treated like a dog, and judging by Robert’s attitude, rejected by your family.
I don’t want to hear whining, you angry, soft boy? “ Sylvia stops and turns toward me. I notice the people around us stop their tasks, interested in our conversation.
“No… “ I begin, not wanting to piss her off.
I don’t even see the next slap, but it puts me on my ass.
“Next one’s with the left hand.
Are you angry Nikolas? “ Sylvia looms over me like a raven.
I feel something before I get to my feet, a hot, quick flash of hatred. A context free rage at the fucked up situation I’m in.
“Answer is still no. Because to be angry, I’d have to know a God-Damned thing about what’s going on.
But my lunatic aunt just picked me up and now I’m standing in the middle of whatever the English equivalent to the Texas Chainsaw Massacre family is.
For all I know, I’m your new King. So no, I’m not angry, I’m annoyed, and maybe a bit worried my gene pool really needs some chlorine. “ I’m shocked at what I’m saying, but I see some smiles, hear a few laughs.
Sylvia’s face seems to soften slightly.
“There’s the Gritt in you. “ She says, starting to walk to an old barn.
I catch up to her as I attempt in vain to dust myself off.
Sylvia opens a small, strangely modern looking door, inside a row of lights automatically flip on.
In contrast to the rotten wood exterior, the inside of the barn looks modern, design wise it’s half way between a hospital and a car repair shop. Equipment of unknown purpose, gurneys and cages of all sizes and types surround me.
Sylvia walks to a door at the back, then pauses.
“Before I open this door, you need to understand something.
There is no fortune telling, or reading of cards here. The cloak of the traveller, the bangles of the gypsy, these are all ways of navigating the world to us. Ways to exist on the fringes of society.
The Gritt family, we trade in the unknown. We find, we collect, and we sell. And ours is no petty collection of trinkets and tools not meant for the hands of man.
Our grift, is livestock. “
The woman opens the door, and what I see, sitting, chained in one corner of the industrial cement walled cell shakes everything I thought I knew about reality.
He's six and a half feet tall, his skin a waxy yellow, and every spare inch is festooned with black stitching, rusted pieces of metal or small splinters of bone.
His face is noseless and asymmetrical, almost as if repaired or modified over and over. One eye is a small, sinister looking orb with a red pupil, the other a massive, almost reptilian thing, wildly twitching about.
He wears no shirt, but a long, grey hide Trenchcoat hangs down to his knees. I start to shake as I see it’s made from layers of stitched human skin.
He sneers at us, long, conical teeth catch the harsh halogen light.
The thing strains against the chains, but they bind him tightly enough to the wall he can barely move.
“You’re not lasting more than 4 seconds kid. Just turn the fuck around. I’ll have you slitting your wrists in the corner by nightfall. “ The thing says, it’s voice is foul, almost a physical force. Grating, rage filled, and with a lunatic edge to it that makes me question exactly how much those chains can take.
“ 3/10, Augustus, who do you think you are scaring with that limp dick of a threat? “ Sylvia says, confidently walking up to the creature.
It snaps it’s jaws with a sound like a rifle shot. No where near Sylvia, but enough to make me jump on the other side of the room.
“If I could stop being threatened and hearing my aunt talk about dicks, I’d be a huge fan. “ I say, something deep within me, pushing past the fear and lack of sleep, “And if anything feels like just telling me what’s going on instead of being vague and creepy, even better. “
The chained thing looks to me, curious. Sylvia smirks.
“Augustus is going to be forced to fight others like him until eventually he gets what’s coming to him for years of evil.
You, are going to stand next to him while he does it. “ Sylvia begins to walk away from the thing, ignoring vile threats of both the violent and carnal variety.
I try to follow her out the door and she blocks me.
“If your still sane and alive in the morning, I was right. Good luck soft boy. “ She says before closing the heavy metal door.
Without her, I feel tiny, that spark of rage is snuffed out and replaced with a cold sense of dread.
“You’re going to have to turn around sometime kid. “ The chained creature says.
I turn, slowly, resolving to make eye contact with the thing. I manage a second or two before looking away, the creature cackles, mocking me.
“Holy shit, they sent me an honest to God pussy. Whole family full of void fucked apes and they send me you?
The best part is, you don’t even get it. I can see what you’re thinking kid, I can see that tiny collection of hormones and goo you vainly call a brain going into overdrive trying to figure this out… “ Augustus starts.
The creature kept going, I don’t have an exact count but it was at least twelve hours.
I can only describe it as a verbal assault. Augustus drew from some dark wells, how it knew half of the things it did scared me as much as it’s clawed hands or, piranha-like teeth.
I lost something that night. The fears that thing drug up, the insecurities it played on, the secrets it knew, it crushed any childlike notions of safety or understanding the world I had.
Don’t take that the wrong way, I don’t mean it toughened me up. It broke any sense of confidence I had, took away any feeling of safety. That God Damned thing in the trenchcoat, changed me.
I’ve lost track of how long it’s been since I’ve slept, but I’m brought a tin plate heaped with eggs, sausage and for some twisted reason, brown beans. And realize it’s been at least a day since I’ve eaten.
I sit around an abused, graffiti carved picnic table with an eclectic combination of family I’ve never met. Syl sips a tea I can smell from ten feet away and looks at me like I’m a used car.
“I’m always right soft boy. Remember that. “ She says.
It takes a half dozen guys built like construction workers, with Sylvia following behind whispering things that wilt vegetation, to wrangle the creature into the back of an old, reinforced horse trailer.
The inside is covered in totems, runes, and other spooky looking errata. The entity becomes sluggish and disoriented as the heavy wooden doors close, and get sealed with a massive brass lock.
My mind begins to wander on the three hour trip through the back country of the UK. The sun sets, and my brain screams for sleep. That scream is silenced by the sense of mounting dread as we get closer to our destination.
We pull up to an abandoned theme restaurant, the parking lot is full, the windows are boarded, and the walls covered in graffiti. The place is huge, more the size of a small stadium than a diner.
The parking lot is full, the sputtering, sparking neon sign flashes “Faron’s Funhouse. “
It’s a few minutes outside of a town I forgot to catch the name of. We can see lights on the horizon, but there’s a feeling of wrong surrounding the building that makes them seem a million miles away.
A half dozen ‘cousins’ of mine move Augustus into a strange, almost coffin-like box made of wood, steel and glass, covered in trinkets and symbols. The thing sneers groggily from within, it’s mismatched eyes rolling in it’s skull.
I don’t hear Sylvia approach, I notice her as she smacks me in the back of the head hard enough to make my ears ring. The old, cruel woman is walking toward the doors of this meeting place.
“Eyes forward, sneer on your face, and walk like you know where you’re going. “ Are her only instructions.
For once, they’re clear and simple. What I see inside easily keeps my attention, and I’m equal parts scared and pissed off, so looking edgy and miserable is my default state.
At one point, this place was exactly what you’d think. I know you’re all expecting it to be a run down, rat infested haunted house now, but it was, stranger than that.
The place was well kept on the inside, but everything was either in use or repurposed to house the couple hundred eclectic customers milling around. In the centre, is a massive Lucite Cube, crystal clear and housing a ball pit, jungle gym and what looks to be a functional canteen, complete with a deep fryer and popcorn machine. It’s a couple hundred meters a side, and shaped like a flawed rectangle.
Smoke hangs in the air, my aunt greets old friends in a handful of different languages, I smile and nod, still trying to understand what the hell this place is.
We see Augustus being wheeled to the Lucite box, Sylvia cuts a laughing Cyrillic conversation short, and her and I make our way to the box that barely restrains the hatred and death inside.
At the other end of the Lucite Cube I see a few people dressed in blue and maroon uniforms ( if I were to guess vintage, from when this place served shitty food instead of violence.), they surround a massive, hulking, lanky thing. It’s obscured by smoke, and poor lighting, but it’s nine foot frame, and unnatural gait are clear.
The box holding Augustus sits about ten feet away from me, inside the massive cage. The front opens, my instinct is to step backward, get as much distance between me and the thing inside as possible, but instead, I’m shoved, before I can catch my balance, a workbook clad foot is in front of me.
I fall and stumble into the cage, I turn around to try and get out as fast as I can, I’m standing inches away from the creature, but I see Sylvia closing the clear, impermeable door.
It hits me then. For the first time since this ordeal started, I realize how grim things are.
Just like everyone else here, I’ve been raised on spooky shit packaged to be marketable. Little monsters, The Adams Family, Harry potter, hell let’s throw Pokemon and the like in there as it’s basically just dog fighting with a cute hat on.
And I thought what was happening to me, was somewhere on the Venn diagram of those things.
But as I see the impassive look on the face of a woman I’ve known since I was a child, ( at a distance or no.) as I’m locked in here with God knows what, I get it. I really get it.
His laughter is like an ice pick, I turn to face him, Augustus brushes himself off, casually looking around the massive arena.
“Just hit ya didn’t it, bud? “ He says, walking over to me, his steps impossibly quick, almost insect-like, “You’re not my trainer, or my wrangler, you certainly aren’t my fucking partner. “, the entity grabs my chin between two clawed fingers, “ You’re a bait dog. Something for me and that new blooded walking pun to fight over. “
My blood runs down his thumb, his grin cracks his face like a rotten melon, the monster pulls down, throwing me to the floor.
A buzzer sounds, and a three minute timer, projected in transparent red appears on the walls of the Lucite arena.
“If I’ve got to hunt you down in this shit-hole, things are going to be a lot worse for you. Stay put, bud. “ The trenchcoat clad thing says, casually walking toward the creature on the opposite side of the arena.
Closer now, I see it clearly. Inside of a pristine uniform, is a twisted attempt at the human form. The torso is lumpen, asymmetrical, but lean. It's arms nearly drag on the floor, yellow, infected looking flesh, weeping pus like a snail’s foot.
It's eyes are black caves, with just the hint of something deep within. It’s face is blank, a torn, haggard looking grey tongue runs over rotting green teeth.
The kid beside it looks around my age, he’s big though, just as confused and afraid as I am. He wears a similar uniform to the creature, but his looks, abused, torn, blood stained. Like it's been handed down from one unlucky owner to the next.
As the buzzer rings, the lanky, disgusting creature moves in a flash, tearing off the kid’s right arm and beginning to chew it.
The blood didn’t set me off, as terrible as it was. It was the three seconds between the act, and the poor kid realizing what happened that pushed me over the edge.
He started to scream, a horrible trapped animal kind of noise. He backs away from the monster beside him, gripping the crushed and torn remains of his forearm.
Augustus laughs, his trenchcoat drags on the floor, leaving a streak of blood as he walks.
“Man after my own heart.
So, I say, we split these sides of beef for two minutes then talk shop for a bit. Fuck these pretentious apes and their show. “ Augustus looks up to the massive thing. It remains impassive, gnawing on the hand.
“Don’t be like that. We both know two halves are better than one whole . Win-win for both of us“ Augustus gets a noise that sounds like an angry sewer pipe, and a dismissive wave of a long snake-like arm in response.
The thing in the trenchcoat shrugs, turning around and stalking toward me.
“You have no luck at all kid, I was going to let you go last.
But the pinworm back there wants to be a dick about things, so looks like things are getting started early. “ Augustus grins, his mouth opening shark like.
I stare down certain death, Augustus radiating fear, seeming to become more demonic with each step toward me.
From behind him, a noise.
I would have just assumed it was some part of the worm-like, filth ridden thing eating. Augustus clears up that misconception.
He turns, shaking, body language that of a wild animal.
“Was that a fucking snicker? A giggle? Are you fucking laughing at me, you literal fucking worm. “ He’s panting, hands twitching like dying insects.
He stands, inches from the other creature, dwarfed by it, teeth grinding, muscles straining.
The worm thing casually tosses the flesh bare hand toward Augustus. As it touches his coat, the arena erupts into a kind of wild, senseless, limitless violence.
It doesn’t feel like watching a fight, it’s more like a car wreck, or natural disaster. Pieces of jungle gym turn into lethal shrapnel as the blurred, filth spewing scrum destroys them.
I see the timer, 2:15. My mind starts to catch up, and I see the other kid, pale, whimpering, and trying in vain to staunch the blood spurting from his arm.
I’m running, low and likely poorly, pulling my belt from my pants, and thanking myself for actually listening when I was forced to take a first aid course for a summer job last year.
The kid is scared, he tries pushing me away, but I’m determined, and not down a couple pints of blood. I pull the belt with two hands, pull it through again and twist, it’s ugly, it’s not perfect, but the flow of blood begins to slow, then stop.
We crawl behind a prize counter, decades old candy and stuffed animals surround us as we cower. A liquid filled roar loud enough to crack the cheap glass cases fills the room.
The kid is looking rough, blood still trickling from the torn stump of his forearm. I see some plastic bags and get an idea.
I lean over to get them, and feel something strange, at first I think I pulled a muscle.
Then there is a deep, burning pain, instinctively I pull away, and turn around.
The kid is on his knees, sanity has left his eyes, a cheap hunting knife in his remaining hand he has a look of panic and determination on his face.
“We have to win. “ he says, lunging at me with the blade.
He’s slow, and I avoid it, but not by as much as I’d like. Blood runs down my back, for a moment I wonder how bad I’m hurt, but it doesn’t really matter right now.
I retreat, but the only thing keeping us from being torn apart by the whirlwind of shrapnel caused by the creatures is the counter, I can’t escape.
It's a stalemate, I’m no athlete, and the kid is built like a rugby player, but he’s missing a hand, and delirious from blood loss. I plead, I try and reason, and I dodge crazed strikes by increasingly narrow margins.
Something large, either thrown or knocked loose destroys the counter behind me. Suddenly all is chaos. I’m thrown into the kid in the uniform, plaster dust surrounds us in a grey cloud.
By the time the air clears the kid is on top of me. I have his wrist in one hand, keeping the split tip of the blade inches from my face.
The angle is too awkward, I can’t get any leverage. It’s not a stalemate, it’s a war of attrition that I’m losing.
I catch a glimpse of the two creatures. The worm thing is striking at Augustus, who stands still, limbs moving in arcing blurs deflecting the blows and tearing off chunks of foul, tainted flesh.
The tip of the knife begins to dig into my cheek. A drop of blood hits my eye.
I grab the makeshift tourniquet with a free hand and roughly yank forward. The kid on top of me screams, bloods begins to pour. Torn flesh and a gore soaked belt hit the ground.
For a moment the weight on me eases up, and I push the knife forward. But the kid, he’s too stupid or far gone to just back off. As I feel is strength start to fade, he presses himself harder.
I expect him to back off as I begin to drive the roughly sharpened back edge of the knife into his neck. But he doubles down, leaning forward, trying to press the knife toward me.
For a moment, every other fucked up thing going on around me doesn’t matter. The world is small, silent, and consists of nothing more than the image of the knife ripping away a fist sized strip from the kids neck.
He backs off when he realizes the extent of the damage. Staring at me shocked, as if just not realizing the consequences of his actions.
He dies slowly, poorly, and within inches of me. I feel no victory, no sense of being a winner, just a dark pit in the back of my mind. The loss of something that comes with taking someone’s life.
I stand, shell shocked, staring at the corpse. My safety the last thing on my mind.
The worm thing is hurt, and attempts to dive into the ball pit, but somehow, defying physics, Augustus grabs it, holding the half ton monster out with one hand.
He arcs the thing, slamming it into the floor behind him, the spray of gore and viscera rivals pyrotechnics, the force leaves a blood filled crater in the floor.
Without missing a beat Augustus starts to walk toward me, making a token effort of flicking pieces of bone and organ from himself.
I’m frozen, I know nothing I can do could stop whatever he has planned.
The creature picks up a jagged piece of lumber, and looks at the clock, “We’ve got 45 seconds of fun left kid. “ he says with a sneer.
But as he passes the counter, and sees the corpse the look of imminent violence turns into amusement.
“How’s it feel to be a child killer, bud? “, Augustus laughs, “Not that I can’t tell from the look on your face.
Fuck me, that knocked some gears loose didn’t it? “
The thing walks forward, looking me over like a collectable.
“I can’t let that go to waste, now can I? “ he slaps me lightly, “It’s going to be a fucking blast watching you break down kid, wonder what drives you nuts first, this kid being in your dreams, or the fact that, at some point I’m going to get bored and start giving you all the pain you feel you deserve? “
Of course, I made it out alive. It’d be kind of hard to have posted this if I didn’t.
But now, I sit in a dingy room in a farm house half way across the world from home. Surrounded by family and monsters, all of which seem out to get me. Being forced to risk my life in some kind of blood sport.
Maybe I’ll be back, maybe I’ll be dead by the next time I get a chance to post anything. If anyone has any help, please, post it in the comments. I’m in a dark place here and no one else seems to be on my side.
I decided to update everyone
https://www.reddit.com/HFY/s/ypogh9ZYrZ

“Get the fuck out of my house with this ‘ old country’ shit Sylvia, I’m serious. “ I hear my dad say from the kitchen downstairs.
“I give children and idiots three warnings. That’s your first. “ It takes me a second to recognize my aunt’s voice. I’ve only met her a handful of times, and it’s nearly 2am.
“Syl, he’s right, this is crazy. I’m Roma, I’m proud, but your part of the family, and mine are two separate things. “ My mom interjects. Her voice is calm and level.
I woke up about half way through whatever is going on, and I’m fuzzy on the details, but everyone involved is three kinds of pissed.
“So you say, but just because you ignore the other side, doesn’t mean the other side ignores you. “ Aunt Syl replies, I could never quite place her accent, but it makes her statement all the more sinister.
“Might as well make that the family motto.
Syl, there are a couple dozen other kids Nikolas’ age in the family. Half of which are already hip deep in whatever is going on nowadays, you don’t need him. “ Mom isn’t pleading, but I can hear she’s worried.
“Why are we trying to reason with your crazy aunt? Time to go Syl. “ My dad isn’t worried, he’s angry.
“That’s two. “ Aunt Sylvia replies.
I hear a chair squeak then fall to the floor.
“That’s three. “ Sylvia says, her voice is cold, and I swear I could almost hear an echo.
I can hear my dad start to quietly cough, he sounds like he’s trying to talk but can’t. My heart starts to race, I don’t understand what’s going on, but I know it’s bad.
“Syl! Jesus Christ, that’s my husband. “ Mom sounds more offended than scared now. I wish I could say the same.
I stand next to my cracked door, fear beginning to take hold.
I can hear my dad start to take long wheezing breaths, I have no idea if this is a good or bad thing.
“Happy?
Now that any hope of doing this quietly is over, Nikolas and I have a long drive ahead of us. He’s 16, he has a license, yes? “ I hear Sylvia say, sudden footsteps walking up the stairs.
“No, he’s not interested in driving. You can’t take him Syl. “ my mom sounds frantic, Sylvia’s steps are measured and heavy.
“Not interested? You sure we are related? You raise soft children. “ Sylvia ends this with a dismissive laugh.
The few minutes that followed were kind of a blur, with my mom trying to convince me that I was just going to visit family, as if I didn’t just hear everything.
It's a couple hours into a long drive in a small car when my brain finally catches up to the fact that I’m awake, and going 30 miles an hour over the speed limit.
Aunt Syl sits in the driver’s seat, she’s 40 something, olive skinned with pitch-colored hair. Her style, it’s, something.
Her outfit was the middle of a Venn diagram of hippie, punk rock and carpenter. Bracelets, flannel, paisley, and enough piercings I lost count.
“Any chance of putting both hands on the wheel? “ I say, I’m mad, but I don’t even really know why.
She holds up her left arm, and I’m shocked. It’s an ancient looking blued steel prosthetic. She flexes, the clawed, almost mitten-like hand.
“Go through too many steering wheels that way. “ She says with a smirk.
“What’s going on? “ I ask, after an agonizing fifteen minutes of silence.
“You’re a big boy, so if you want the truth, I’ll give it to you. There’s a job that needs to be done, a dangerous job. And I want you to do it.
Now, I want you, not because you’re strong, or smart, or special. We have many strong, smart, special boys.
You, I want, because you’re unknown, and, little one, disposable. “ Sylvia lets this comment hang like rotten fruit.
The next hour goes in silence, at no point do I even entertain the notion this is some kind of joke. Something about this woman’s energy, about the way she carries herself, it scares the shit out of me.
We board a plane, somehow she had all of my travel documents. Even stranger is that we get escorted past the security checkpoints, into first class.
The next words I say to Sylvia are, “You have to put that out! “ as she lights up a short, yellow, hand-rolled cigarette.
She grins, taking a long drag, it smells horrible, the cheapest roughest tobacco odor I’ve encountered.
She relaxes, a cloud of thick, grey smoke forming.
I’m stunned, not a single person says anything. At first I think maybe she’s some kind of, I don’t know, mobster or something.
But that isn’t quite right. No one is looking at her in fear, no one is telling anyone else not to say anything. It’s like no one notices what she’s doing.
“How does she do this? The little boy wonders.
I don’t come offering you a thankless task Nik. I come with an opportunity. “ Sylvia says before crushing the cigarette on the arm of a chair and tossing it into the isle.
I had questions, and between the fear and the confusion I asked every one of them.
The only response she gave me was, “You’ll see when we get there. “.
She was right.
The flight lands, and after an hour or so of driving the world’s oldest pickup through the English countryside, we wind up at an old farm house, in the middle of nowhere outside of Hammersmith.
The sign outside says “ Gritt Auctions” the letters are old, bronze and tarnished, the grounds are littered with car parts, statues, and errata of every type.
Dozens, maybe even a hundred people mill about each stopping for a moment to give a suspicious look at the interloper in their midst.
Sylvia seems amused at my nervousness. I try and give the rough looking folks around me as much space as I can.
“They’re family, mostly, by blood or marriage, with a handful of lost souls and hangers on. “ She explains.
I probably should have guessed, seeing my mom’s family name on the sign, but my brain is basically nothing more than fear, anxiety and jet lag at this point.
“When do I get to know what’s going on? “ I say, waving at a cousin of some form and receive a uniquely English rude gesture in return.
My ear is ringing, and I stumble , the left side of my face burning. I’d say Syl slapped me, but it was more of a polite punch.
“Don’t whine. You’ve been stolen from your mother, treated like a dog, and judging by Robert’s attitude, rejected by your family.
I don’t want to hear whining, you angry, soft boy? “ Sylvia stops and turns toward me. I notice the people around us stop their tasks, interested in our conversation.
“No… “ I begin, not wanting to piss her off.
I don’t even see the next slap, but it puts me on my ass.
“Next one’s with the left hand.
Are you angry Nikolas? “ Sylvia looms over me like a raven.
I feel something before I get to my feet, a hot, quick flash of hatred. A context free rage at the fucked up situation I’m in.
“Answer is still no. Because to be angry, I’d have to know a God-Damned thing about what’s going on.
But my lunatic aunt just picked me up and now I’m standing in the middle of whatever the English equivalent to the Texas Chainsaw Massacre family is.
For all I know, I’m your new King. So no, I’m not angry, I’m annoyed, and maybe a bit worried my gene pool really needs some chlorine. “ I’m shocked at what I’m saying, but I see some smiles, hear a few laughs.
Sylvia’s face seems to soften slightly.
“There’s the Gritt in you. “ She says, starting to walk to an old barn.
I catch up to her as I attempt in vain to dust myself off.
Sylvia opens a small, strangely modern looking door, inside a row of lights automatically flip on.
In contrast to the rotten wood exterior, the inside of the barn looks modern, design wise it’s half way between a hospital and a car repair shop. Equipment of unknown purpose, gurneys and cages of all sizes and types surround me.
Sylvia walks to a door at the back, then pauses.
“Before I open this door, you need to understand something.
There is no fortune telling, or reading of cards here. The cloak of the traveller, the bangles of the gypsy, these are all ways of navigating the world to us. Ways to exist on the fringes of society.
The Gritt family, we trade in the unknown. We find, we collect, and we sell. And ours is no petty collection of trinkets and tools not meant for the hands of man.
Our grift, is livestock. “
The woman opens the door, and what I see, sitting, chained in one corner of the industrial cement walled cell shakes everything I thought I knew about reality.
He's six and a half feet tall, his skin a waxy yellow, and every spare inch is festooned with black stitching, rusted pieces of metal or small splinters of bone.
His face is noseless and asymmetrical, almost as if repaired or modified over and over. One eye is a small, sinister looking orb with a red pupil, the other a massive, almost reptilian thing, wildly twitching about.
He wears no shirt, but a long, grey hide Trenchcoat hangs down to his knees. I start to shake as I see it’s made from layers of stitched human skin.
He sneers at us, long, conical teeth catch the harsh halogen light.
The thing strains against the chains, but they bind him tightly enough to the wall he can barely move.
“You’re not lasting more than 4 seconds kid. Just turn the fuck around. I’ll have you slitting your wrists in the corner by nightfall. “ The thing says, it’s voice is foul, almost a physical force. Grating, rage filled, and with a lunatic edge to it that makes me question exactly how much those chains can take.
“ 3/10, Augustus, who do you think you are scaring with that limp dick of a threat? “ Sylvia says, confidently walking up to the creature.
It snaps it’s jaws with a sound like a rifle shot. No where near Sylvia, but enough to make me jump on the other side of the room.
“If I could stop being threatened and hearing my aunt talk about dicks, I’d be a huge fan. “ I say, something deep within me, pushing past the fear and lack of sleep, “And if anything feels like just telling me what’s going on instead of being vague and creepy, even better. “
The chained thing looks to me, curious. Sylvia smirks.
“Augustus is going to be forced to fight others like him until eventually he gets what’s coming to him for years of evil.
You, are going to stand next to him while he does it. “ Sylvia begins to walk away from the thing, ignoring vile threats of both the violent and carnal variety.
I try to follow her out the door and she blocks me.
“If your still sane and alive in the morning, I was right. Good luck soft boy. “ She says before closing the heavy metal door.
Without her, I feel tiny, that spark of rage is snuffed out and replaced with a cold sense of dread.
“You’re going to have to turn around sometime kid. “ The chained creature says.
I turn, slowly, resolving to make eye contact with the thing. I manage a second or two before looking away, the creature cackles, mocking me.
“Holy shit, they sent me an honest to God pussy. Whole family full of void fucked apes and they send me you?
The best part is, you don’t even get it. I can see what you’re thinking kid, I can see that tiny collection of hormones and goo you vainly call a brain going into overdrive trying to figure this out… “ Augustus starts.
The creature kept going, I don’t have an exact count but it was at least twelve hours.
I can only describe it as a verbal assault. Augustus drew from some dark wells, how it knew half of the things it did scared me as much as it’s clawed hands or, piranha-like teeth.
I lost something that night. The fears that thing drug up, the insecurities it played on, the secrets it knew, it crushed any childlike notions of safety or understanding the world I had.
Don’t take that the wrong way, I don’t mean it toughened me up. It broke any sense of confidence I had, took away any feeling of safety. That God Damned thing in the trenchcoat, changed me.
I’ve lost track of how long it’s been since I’ve slept, but I’m brought a tin plate heaped with eggs, sausage and for some twisted reason, brown beans. And realize it’s been at least a day since I’ve eaten.
I sit around an abused, graffiti carved picnic table with an eclectic combination of family I’ve never met. Syl sips a tea I can smell from ten feet away and looks at me like I’m a used car.
“I’m always right soft boy. Remember that. “ She says.
It takes a half dozen guys built like construction workers, with Sylvia following behind whispering things that wilt vegetation, to wrangle the creature into the back of an old, reinforced horse trailer.
The inside is covered in totems, runes, and other spooky looking errata. The entity becomes sluggish and disoriented as the heavy wooden doors close, and get sealed with a massive brass lock.
My mind begins to wander on the three hour trip through the back country of the UK. The sun sets, and my brain screams for sleep. That scream is silenced by the sense of mounting dread as we get closer to our destination.
We pull up to an abandoned theme restaurant, the parking lot is full, the windows are boarded, and the walls covered in graffiti. The place is huge, more the size of a small stadium than a diner.
The parking lot is full, the sputtering, sparking neon sign flashes “Faron’s Funhouse. “
It’s a few minutes outside of a town I forgot to catch the name of. We can see lights on the horizon, but there’s a feeling of wrong surrounding the building that makes them seem a million miles away.
A half dozen ‘cousins’ of mine move Augustus into a strange, almost coffin-like box made of wood, steel and glass, covered in trinkets and symbols. The thing sneers groggily from within, it’s mismatched eyes rolling in it’s skull.
I don’t hear Sylvia approach, I notice her as she smacks me in the back of the head hard enough to make my ears ring. The old, cruel woman is walking toward the doors of this meeting place.
“Eyes forward, sneer on your face, and walk like you know where you’re going. “ Are her only instructions.
For once, they’re clear and simple. What I see inside easily keeps my attention, and I’m equal parts scared and pissed off, so looking edgy and miserable is my default state.
At one point, this place was exactly what you’d think. I know you’re all expecting it to be a run down, rat infested haunted house now, but it was, stranger than that.
The place was well kept on the inside, but everything was either in use or repurposed to house the couple hundred eclectic customers milling around. In the centre, is a massive Lucite Cube, crystal clear and housing a ball pit, jungle gym and what looks to be a functional canteen, complete with a deep fryer and popcorn machine. It’s a couple hundred meters a side, and shaped like a flawed rectangle.
Smoke hangs in the air, my aunt greets old friends in a handful of different languages, I smile and nod, still trying to understand what the hell this place is.
We see Augustus being wheeled to the Lucite box, Sylvia cuts a laughing Cyrillic conversation short, and her and I make our way to the box that barely restrains the hatred and death inside.
At the other end of the Lucite Cube I see a few people dressed in blue and maroon uniforms ( if I were to guess vintage, from when this place served shitty food instead of violence.), they surround a massive, hulking, lanky thing. It’s obscured by smoke, and poor lighting, but it’s nine foot frame, and unnatural gait are clear.
The box holding Augustus sits about ten feet away from me, inside the massive cage. The front opens, my instinct is to step backward, get as much distance between me and the thing inside as possible, but instead, I’m shoved, before I can catch my balance, a workbook clad foot is in front of me.
I fall and stumble into the cage, I turn around to try and get out as fast as I can, I’m standing inches away from the creature, but I see Sylvia closing the clear, impermeable door.
It hits me then. For the first time since this ordeal started, I realize how grim things are.
Just like everyone else here, I’ve been raised on spooky shit packaged to be marketable. Little monsters, The Adams Family, Harry potter, hell let’s throw Pokemon and the like in there as it’s basically just dog fighting with a cute hat on.
And I thought what was happening to me, was somewhere on the Venn diagram of those things.
But as I see the impassive look on the face of a woman I’ve known since I was a child, ( at a distance or no.) as I’m locked in here with God knows what, I get it. I really get it.
His laughter is like an ice pick, I turn to face him, Augustus brushes himself off, casually looking around the massive arena.
“Just hit ya didn’t it, bud? “ He says, walking over to me, his steps impossibly quick, almost insect-like, “You’re not my trainer, or my wrangler, you certainly aren’t my fucking partner. “, the entity grabs my chin between two clawed fingers, “ You’re a bait dog. Something for me and that new blooded walking pun to fight over. “
My blood runs down his thumb, his grin cracks his face like a rotten melon, the monster pulls down, throwing me to the floor.
A buzzer sounds, and a three minute timer, projected in transparent red appears on the walls of the Lucite arena.
“If I’ve got to hunt you down in this shit-hole, things are going to be a lot worse for you. Stay put, bud. “ The trenchcoat clad thing says, casually walking toward the creature on the opposite side of the arena.
Closer now, I see it clearly. Inside of a pristine uniform, is a twisted attempt at the human form. The torso is lumpen, asymmetrical, but lean. It's arms nearly drag on the floor, yellow, infected looking flesh, weeping pus like a snail’s foot.
It's eyes are black caves, with just the hint of something deep within. It’s face is blank, a torn, haggard looking grey tongue runs over rotting green teeth.
The kid beside it looks around my age, he’s big though, just as confused and afraid as I am. He wears a similar uniform to the creature, but his looks, abused, torn, blood stained. Like it's been handed down from one unlucky owner to the next.
As the buzzer rings, the lanky, disgusting creature moves in a flash, tearing off the kid’s right arm and beginning to chew it.
The blood didn’t set me off, as terrible as it was. It was the three seconds between the act, and the poor kid realizing what happened that pushed me over the edge.
He started to scream, a horrible trapped animal kind of noise. He backs away from the monster beside him, gripping the crushed and torn remains of his forearm.
Augustus laughs, his trenchcoat drags on the floor, leaving a streak of blood as he walks.
“Man after my own heart.
So, I say, we split these sides of beef for two minutes then talk shop for a bit. Fuck these pretentious apes and their show. “ Augustus looks up to the massive thing. It remains impassive, gnawing on the hand.
“Don’t be like that. We both know two halves are better than one whole . Win-win for both of us“ Augustus gets a noise that sounds like an angry sewer pipe, and a dismissive wave of a long snake-like arm in response.
The thing in the trenchcoat shrugs, turning around and stalking toward me.
“You have no luck at all kid, I was going to let you go last.
But the pinworm back there wants to be a dick about things, so looks like things are getting started early. “ Augustus grins, his mouth opening shark like.
I stare down certain death, Augustus radiating fear, seeming to become more demonic with each step toward me.
From behind him, a noise.
I would have just assumed it was some part of the worm-like, filth ridden thing eating. Augustus clears up that misconception.
He turns, shaking, body language that of a wild animal.
“Was that a fucking snicker? A giggle? Are you fucking laughing at me, you literal fucking worm. “ He’s panting, hands twitching like dying insects.
He stands, inches from the other creature, dwarfed by it, teeth grinding, muscles straining.
The worm thing casually tosses the flesh bare hand toward Augustus. As it touches his coat, the arena erupts into a kind of wild, senseless, limitless violence.
It doesn’t feel like watching a fight, it’s more like a car wreck, or natural disaster. Pieces of jungle gym turn into lethal shrapnel as the blurred, filth spewing scrum destroys them.
I see the timer, 2:15. My mind starts to catch up, and I see the other kid, pale, whimpering, and trying in vain to staunch the blood spurting from his arm.
I’m running, low and likely poorly, pulling my belt from my pants, and thanking myself for actually listening when I was forced to take a first aid course for a summer job last year.
The kid is scared, he tries pushing me away, but I’m determined, and not down a couple pints of blood. I pull the belt with two hands, pull it through again and twist, it’s ugly, it’s not perfect, but the flow of blood begins to slow, then stop.
We crawl behind a prize counter, decades old candy and stuffed animals surround us as we cower. A liquid filled roar loud enough to crack the cheap glass cases fills the room.
The kid is looking rough, blood still trickling from the torn stump of his forearm. I see some plastic bags and get an idea.
I lean over to get them, and feel something strange, at first I think I pulled a muscle.
Then there is a deep, burning pain, instinctively I pull away, and turn around.
The kid is on his knees, sanity has left his eyes, a cheap hunting knife in his remaining hand he has a look of panic and determination on his face.
“We have to win. “ he says, lunging at me with the blade.
He’s slow, and I avoid it, but not by as much as I’d like. Blood runs down my back, for a moment I wonder how bad I’m hurt, but it doesn’t really matter right now.
I retreat, but the only thing keeping us from being torn apart by the whirlwind of shrapnel caused by the creatures is the counter, I can’t escape.
It's a stalemate, I’m no athlete, and the kid is built like a rugby player, but he’s missing a hand, and delirious from blood loss. I plead, I try and reason, and I dodge crazed strikes by increasingly narrow margins.
Something large, either thrown or knocked loose destroys the counter behind me. Suddenly all is chaos. I’m thrown into the kid in the uniform, plaster dust surrounds us in a grey cloud.
By the time the air clears the kid is on top of me. I have his wrist in one hand, keeping the split tip of the blade inches from my face.
The angle is too awkward, I can’t get any leverage. It’s not a stalemate, it’s a war of attrition that I’m losing.
I catch a glimpse of the two creatures. The worm thing is striking at Augustus, who stands still, limbs moving in arcing blurs deflecting the blows and tearing off chunks of foul, tainted flesh.
The tip of the knife begins to dig into my cheek. A drop of blood hits my eye.
I grab the makeshift tourniquet with a free hand and roughly yank forward. The kid on top of me screams, bloods begins to pour. Torn flesh and a gore soaked belt hit the ground.
For a moment the weight on me eases up, and I push the knife forward. But the kid, he’s too stupid or far gone to just back off. As I feel is strength start to fade, he presses himself harder.
I expect him to back off as I begin to drive the roughly sharpened back edge of the knife into his neck. But he doubles down, leaning forward, trying to press the knife toward me.
For a moment, every other fucked up thing going on around me doesn’t matter. The world is small, silent, and consists of nothing more than the image of the knife ripping away a fist sized strip from the kids neck.
He backs off when he realizes the extent of the damage. Staring at me shocked, as if just not realizing the consequences of his actions.
He dies slowly, poorly, and within inches of me. I feel no victory, no sense of being a winner, just a dark pit in the back of my mind. The loss of something that comes with taking someone’s life.
I stand, shell shocked, staring at the corpse. My safety the last thing on my mind.
The worm thing is hurt, and attempts to dive into the ball pit, but somehow, defying physics, Augustus grabs it, holding the half ton monster out with one hand.
He arcs the thing, slamming it into the floor behind him, the spray of gore and viscera rivals pyrotechnics, the force leaves a blood filled crater in the floor.
Without missing a beat Augustus starts to walk toward me, making a token effort of flicking pieces of bone and organ from himself.
I’m frozen, I know nothing I can do could stop whatever he has planned.
The creature picks up a jagged piece of lumber, and looks at the clock, “We’ve got 45 seconds of fun left kid. “ he says with a sneer.
But as he passes the counter, and sees the corpse the look of imminent violence turns into amusement.
“How’s it feel to be a child killer, bud? “, Augustus laughs, “Not that I can’t tell from the look on your face.
Fuck me, that knocked some gears loose didn’t it? “
The thing walks forward, looking me over like a collectable.
“I can’t let that go to waste, now can I? “ he slaps me lightly, “It’s going to be a fucking blast watching you break down kid, wonder what drives you nuts first, this kid being in your dreams, or the fact that, at some point I’m going to get bored and start giving you all the pain you feel you deserve? “
Of course, I made it out alive. It’d be kind of hard to have posted this if I didn’t.
But now, I sit in a dingy room in a farm house half way across the world from home. Surrounded by family and monsters, all of which seem out to get me. Being forced to risk my life in some kind of blood sport.
Maybe I’ll be back, maybe I’ll be dead by the next time I get a chance to post anything. If anyone has any help, please, post it in the comments. I’m in a dark place here and no one else seems to be on my side.
I decided to let everyone know how things are going.
https://www.reddit.com/nosleep/s/TQJpCXsGMK

“Get the fuck out of my house with this ‘ old country’ shit Sylvia, I’m serious. “ I hear my dad say from the kitchen downstairs.
“I give children and idiots three warnings. That’s your first. “ It takes me a second to recognize my aunt’s voice. I’ve only met her a handful of times, and it’s nearly 2am.
“Syl, he’s right, this is crazy. I’m Roma, I’m proud, but your part of the family, and mine are two separate things. “ My mom interjects. Her voice is calm and level.
I woke up about half way through whatever is going on, and I’m fuzzy on the details, but everyone involved is three kinds of pissed.
“So you say, but just because you ignore the other side, doesn’t mean the other side ignores you. “ Aunt Syl replies, I could never quite place her accent, but it makes her statement all the more sinister.
“Might as well make that the family motto.
Syl, there are a couple dozen other kids Nikolas’ age in the family. Half of which are already hip deep in whatever is going on nowadays, you don’t need him. “ Mom isn’t pleading, but I can hear she’s worried.
“Why are we trying to reason with your crazy aunt? Time to go Syl. “ My dad isn’t worried, he’s angry.
“That’s two. “ Aunt Sylvia replies.
I hear a chair squeak then fall to the floor.
“That’s three. “ Sylvia says, her voice is cold, and I swear I could almost hear an echo.
I can hear my dad start to quietly cough, he sounds like he’s trying to talk but can’t. My heart starts to race, I don’t understand what’s going on, but I know it’s bad.
“Syl! Jesus Christ, that’s my husband. “ Mom sounds more offended than scared now. I wish I could say the same.
I stand next to my cracked door, fear beginning to take hold.
I can hear my dad start to take long wheezing breaths, I have no idea if this is a good or bad thing.
“Happy?
Now that any hope of doing this quietly is over, Nikolas and I have a long drive ahead of us. He’s 16, he has a license, yes? “ I hear Sylvia say, sudden footsteps walking up the stairs.
“No, he’s not interested in driving. You can’t take him Syl. “ my mom sounds frantic, Sylvia’s steps are measured and heavy.
“Not interested? You sure we are related? You raise soft children. “ Sylvia ends this with a dismissive laugh.
The few minutes that followed were kind of a blur, with my mom trying to convince me that I was just going to visit family, as if I didn’t just hear everything.
It's a couple hours into a long drive in a small car when my brain finally catches up to the fact that I’m awake, and going 30 miles an hour over the speed limit.
Aunt Syl sits in the driver’s seat, she’s 40 something, olive skinned with pitch-colored hair. Her style, it’s, something.
Her outfit was the middle of a Venn diagram of hippie, punk rock and carpenter. Bracelets, flannel, paisley, and enough piercings I lost count.
“Any chance of putting both hands on the wheel? “ I say, I’m mad, but I don’t even really know why.
She holds up her left arm, and I’m shocked. It’s an ancient looking blued steel prosthetic. She flexes, the clawed, almost mitten-like hand.
“Go through too many steering wheels that way. “ She says with a smirk.
“What’s going on? “ I ask, after an agonizing fifteen minutes of silence.
“You’re a big boy, so if you want the truth, I’ll give it to you. There’s a job that needs to be done, a dangerous job. And I want you to do it.
Now, I want you, not because you’re strong, or smart, or special. We have many strong, smart, special boys.
You, I want, because you’re unknown, and, little one, disposable. “ Sylvia lets this comment hang like rotten fruit.
The next hour goes in silence, at no point do I even entertain the notion this is some kind of joke. Something about this woman’s energy, about the way she carries herself, it scares the shit out of me.
We board a plane, somehow she had all of my travel documents. Even stranger is that we get escorted past the security checkpoints, into first class.
The next words I say to Sylvia are, “You have to put that out! “ as she lights up a short, yellow, hand-rolled cigarette.
She grins, taking a long drag, it smells horrible, the cheapest roughest tobacco odor I’ve encountered.
She relaxes, a cloud of thick, grey smoke forming.
I’m stunned, not a single person says anything. At first I think maybe she’s some kind of, I don’t know, mobster or something.
But that isn’t quite right. No one is looking at her in fear, no one is telling anyone else not to say anything. It’s like no one notices what she’s doing.
“How does she do this? The little boy wonders.
I don’t come offering you a thankless task Nik. I come with an opportunity. “ Sylvia says before crushing the cigarette on the arm of a chair and tossing it into the isle.
I had questions, and between the fear and the confusion I asked every one of them.
The only response she gave me was, “You’ll see when we get there. “.
She was right.
The flight lands, and after an hour or so of driving the world’s oldest pickup through the English countryside, we wind up at an old farm house, in the middle of nowhere outside of Hammersmith.
The sign outside says “ Gritt Auctions” the letters are old, bronze and tarnished, the grounds are littered with car parts, statues, and errata of every type.
Dozens, maybe even a hundred people mill about each stopping for a moment to give a suspicious look at the interloper in their midst.
Sylvia seems amused at my nervousness. I try and give the rough looking folks around me as much space as I can.
“They’re family, mostly, by blood or marriage, with a handful of lost souls and hangers on. “ She explains.
I probably should have guessed, seeing my mom’s family name on the sign, but my brain is basically nothing more than fear, anxiety and jet lag at this point.
“When do I get to know what’s going on? “ I say, waving at a cousin of some form and receive a uniquely English rude gesture in return.
My ear is ringing, and I stumble , the left side of my face burning. I’d say Syl slapped me, but it was more of a polite punch.
“Don’t whine. You’ve been stolen from your mother, treated like a dog, and judging by Robert’s attitude, rejected by your family.
I don’t want to hear whining, you angry, soft boy? “ Sylvia stops and turns toward me. I notice the people around us stop their tasks, interested in our conversation.
“No… “ I begin, not wanting to piss her off.
I don’t even see the next slap, but it puts me on my ass.
“Next one’s with the left hand.
Are you angry Nikolas? “ Sylvia looms over me like a raven.
I feel something before I get to my feet, a hot, quick flash of hatred. A context free rage at the fucked up situation I’m in.
“Answer is still no. Because to be angry, I’d have to know a God-Damned thing about what’s going on.
But my lunatic aunt just picked me up and now I’m standing in the middle of whatever the English equivalent to the Texas Chainsaw Massacre family is.
For all I know, I’m your new King. So no, I’m not angry, I’m annoyed, and maybe a bit worried my gene pool really needs some chlorine. “ I’m shocked at what I’m saying, but I see some smiles, hear a few laughs.
Sylvia’s face seems to soften slightly.
“There’s the Gritt in you. “ She says, starting to walk to an old barn.
I catch up to her as I attempt in vain to dust myself off.
Sylvia opens a small, strangely modern looking door, inside a row of lights automatically flip on.
In contrast to the rotten wood exterior, the inside of the barn looks modern, design wise it’s half way between a hospital and a car repair shop. Equipment of unknown purpose, gurneys and cages of all sizes and types surround me.
Sylvia walks to a door at the back, then pauses.
“Before I open this door, you need to understand something.
There is no fortune telling, or reading of cards here. The cloak of the traveller, the bangles of the gypsy, these are all ways of navigating the world to us. Ways to exist on the fringes of society.
The Gritt family, we trade in the unknown. We find, we collect, and we sell. And ours is no petty collection of trinkets and tools not meant for the hands of man.
Our grift, is livestock. “
The woman opens the door, and what I see, sitting, chained in one corner of the industrial cement walled cell shakes everything I thought I knew about reality.
He's six and a half feet tall, his skin a waxy yellow, and every spare inch is festooned with black stitching, rusted pieces of metal or small splinters of bone.
His face is noseless and asymmetrical, almost as if repaired or modified over and over. One eye is a small, sinister looking orb with a red pupil, the other a massive, almost reptilian thing, wildly twitching about.
He wears no shirt, but a long, grey hide Trenchcoat hangs down to his knees. I start to shake as I see it’s made from layers of stitched human skin.
He sneers at us, long, conical teeth catch the harsh halogen light.
The thing strains against the chains, but they bind him tightly enough to the wall he can barely move.
“You’re not lasting more than 4 seconds kid. Just turn the fuck around. I’ll have you slitting your wrists in the corner by nightfall. “ The thing says, it’s voice is foul, almost a physical force. Grating, rage filled, and with a lunatic edge to it that makes me question exactly how much those chains can take.
“ 3/10, Augustus, who do you think you are scaring with that limp dick of a threat? “ Sylvia says, confidently walking up to the creature.
It snaps it’s jaws with a sound like a rifle shot. No where near Sylvia, but enough to make me jump on the other side of the room.
“If I could stop being threatened and hearing my aunt talk about dicks, I’d be a huge fan. “ I say, something deep within me, pushing past the fear and lack of sleep, “And if anything feels like just telling me what’s going on instead of being vague and creepy, even better. “
The chained thing looks to me, curious. Sylvia smirks.
“Augustus is going to be forced to fight others like him until eventually he gets what’s coming to him for years of evil.
You, are going to stand next to him while he does it. “ Sylvia begins to walk away from the thing, ignoring vile threats of both the violent and carnal variety.
I try to follow her out the door and she blocks me.
“If your still sane and alive in the morning, I was right. Good luck soft boy. “ She says before closing the heavy metal door.
Without her, I feel tiny, that spark of rage is snuffed out and replaced with a cold sense of dread.
“You’re going to have to turn around sometime kid. “ The chained creature says.
I turn, slowly, resolving to make eye contact with the thing. I manage a second or two before looking away, the creature cackles, mocking me.
“Holy shit, they sent me an honest to God pussy. Whole family full of void fucked apes and they send me you?
The best part is, you don’t even get it. I can see what you’re thinking kid, I can see that tiny collection of hormones and goo you vainly call a brain going into overdrive trying to figure this out… “ Augustus starts.
The creature kept going, I don’t have an exact count but it was at least twelve hours.
I can only describe it as a verbal assault. Augustus drew from some dark wells, how it knew half of the things it did scared me as much as it’s clawed hands or, piranha-like teeth.
I lost something that night. The fears that thing drug up, the insecurities it played on, the secrets it knew, it crushed any childlike notions of safety or understanding the world I had.
Don’t take that the wrong way, I don’t mean it toughened me up. It broke any sense of confidence I had, took away any feeling of safety. That God Damned thing in the trenchcoat, changed me.
I’ve lost track of how long it’s been since I’ve slept, but I’m brought a tin plate heaped with eggs, sausage and for some twisted reason, brown beans. And realize it’s been at least a day since I’ve eaten.
I sit around an abused, graffiti carved picnic table with an eclectic combination of family I’ve never met. Syl sips a tea I can smell from ten feet away and looks at me like I’m a used car.
“I’m always right soft boy. Remember that. “ She says.
It takes a half dozen guys built like construction workers, with Sylvia following behind whispering things that wilt vegetation, to wrangle the creature into the back of an old, reinforced horse trailer.
The inside is covered in totems, runes, and other spooky looking errata. The entity becomes sluggish and disoriented as the heavy wooden doors close, and get sealed with a massive brass lock.
My mind begins to wander on the three hour trip through the back country of the UK. The sun sets, and my brain screams for sleep. That scream is silenced by the sense of mounting dread as we get closer to our destination.
We pull up to an abandoned theme restaurant, the parking lot is full, the windows are boarded, and the walls covered in graffiti. The place is huge, more the size of a small stadium than a diner.
The parking lot is full, the sputtering, sparking neon sign flashes “Faron’s Funhouse. “
It’s a few minutes outside of a town I forgot to catch the name of. We can see lights on the horizon, but there’s a feeling of wrong surrounding the building that makes them seem a million miles away.
A half dozen ‘cousins’ of mine move Augustus into a strange, almost coffin-like box made of wood, steel and glass, covered in trinkets and symbols. The thing sneers groggily from within, it’s mismatched eyes rolling in it’s skull.
I don’t hear Sylvia approach, I notice her as she smacks me in the back of the head hard enough to make my ears ring. The old, cruel woman is walking toward the doors of this meeting place.
“Eyes forward, sneer on your face, and walk like you know where you’re going. “ Are her only instructions.
For once, they’re clear and simple. What I see inside easily keeps my attention, and I’m equal parts scared and pissed off, so looking edgy and miserable is my default state.
At one point, this place was exactly what you’d think. I know you’re all expecting it to be a run down, rat infested haunted house now, but it was, stranger than that.
The place was well kept on the inside, but everything was either in use or repurposed to house the couple hundred eclectic customers milling around. In the centre, is a massive Lucite Cube, crystal clear and housing a ball pit, jungle gym and what looks to be a functional canteen, complete with a deep fryer and popcorn machine. It’s a couple hundred meters a side, and shaped like a flawed rectangle.
Smoke hangs in the air, my aunt greets old friends in a handful of different languages, I smile and nod, still trying to understand what the hell this place is.
We see Augustus being wheeled to the Lucite box, Sylvia cuts a laughing Cyrillic conversation short, and her and I make our way to the box that barely restrains the hatred and death inside.
At the other end of the Lucite Cube I see a few people dressed in blue and maroon uniforms ( if I were to guess vintage, from when this place served shitty food instead of violence.), they surround a massive, hulking, lanky thing. It’s obscured by smoke, and poor lighting, but it’s nine foot frame, and unnatural gait are clear.
The box holding Augustus sits about ten feet away from me, inside the massive cage. The front opens, my instinct is to step backward, get as much distance between me and the thing inside as possible, but instead, I’m shoved, before I can catch my balance, a workbook clad foot is in front of me.
I fall and stumble into the cage, I turn around to try and get out as fast as I can, I’m standing inches away from the creature, but I see Sylvia closing the clear, impermeable door.
It hits me then. For the first time since this ordeal started, I realize how grim things are.
Just like everyone else here, I’ve been raised on spooky shit packaged to be marketable. Little monsters, The Adams Family, Harry potter, hell let’s throw Pokemon and the like in there as it’s basically just dog fighting with a cute hat on.
And I thought what was happening to me, was somewhere on the Venn diagram of those things.
But as I see the impassive look on the face of a woman I’ve known since I was a child, ( at a distance or no.) as I’m locked in here with God knows what, I get it. I really get it.
His laughter is like an ice pick, I turn to face him, Augustus brushes himself off, casually looking around the massive arena.
“Just hit ya didn’t it, bud? “ He says, walking over to me, his steps impossibly quick, almost insect-like, “You’re not my trainer, or my wrangler, you certainly aren’t my fucking partner. “, the entity grabs my chin between two clawed fingers, “ You’re a bait dog. Something for me and that new blooded walking pun to fight over. “
My blood runs down his thumb, his grin cracks his face like a rotten melon, the monster pulls down, throwing me to the floor.
A buzzer sounds, and a three minute timer, projected in transparent red appears on the walls of the Lucite arena.
“If I’ve got to hunt you down in this shit-hole, things are going to be a lot worse for you. Stay put, bud. “ The trenchcoat clad thing says, casually walking toward the creature on the opposite side of the arena.
Closer now, I see it clearly. Inside of a pristine uniform, is a twisted attempt at the human form. The torso is lumpen, asymmetrical, but lean. It's arms nearly drag on the floor, yellow, infected looking flesh, weeping pus like a snail’s foot.
It's eyes are black caves, with just the hint of something deep within. It’s face is blank, a torn, haggard looking grey tongue runs over rotting green teeth.
The kid beside it looks around my age, he’s big though, just as confused and afraid as I am. He wears a similar uniform to the creature, but his looks, abused, torn, blood stained. Like it's been handed down from one unlucky owner to the next.
As the buzzer rings, the lanky, disgusting creature moves in a flash, tearing off the kid’s right arm and beginning to chew it.
The blood didn’t set me off, as terrible as it was. It was the three seconds between the act, and the poor kid realizing what happened that pushed me over the edge.
He started to scream, a horrible trapped animal kind of noise. He backs away from the monster beside him, gripping the crushed and torn remains of his forearm.
Augustus laughs, his trenchcoat drags on the floor, leaving a streak of blood as he walks.
“Man after my own heart.
So, I say, we split these sides of beef for two minutes then talk shop for a bit. Fuck these pretentious apes and their show. “ Augustus looks up to the massive thing. It remains impassive, gnawing on the hand.
“Don’t be like that. We both know two halves are better than one whole . Win-win for both of us“ Augustus gets a noise that sounds like an angry sewer pipe, and a dismissive wave of a long snake-like arm in response.
The thing in the trenchcoat shrugs, turning around and stalking toward me.
“You have no luck at all kid, I was going to let you go last.
But the pinworm back there wants to be a dick about things, so looks like things are getting started early. “ Augustus grins, his mouth opening shark like.
I stare down certain death, Augustus radiating fear, seeming to become more demonic with each step toward me.
From behind him, a noise.
I would have just assumed it was some part of the worm-like, filth ridden thing eating. Augustus clears up that misconception.
He turns, shaking, body language that of a wild animal.
“Was that a fucking snicker? A giggle? Are you fucking laughing at me, you literal fucking worm. “ He’s panting, hands twitching like dying insects.
He stands, inches from the other creature, dwarfed by it, teeth grinding, muscles straining.
The worm thing casually tosses the flesh bare hand toward Augustus. As it touches his coat, the arena erupts into a kind of wild, senseless, limitless violence.
It doesn’t feel like watching a fight, it’s more like a car wreck, or natural disaster. Pieces of jungle gym turn into lethal shrapnel as the blurred, filth spewing scrum destroys them.
I see the timer, 2:15. My mind starts to catch up, and I see the other kid, pale, whimpering, and trying in vain to staunch the blood spurting from his arm.
I’m running, low and likely poorly, pulling my belt from my pants, and thanking myself for actually listening when I was forced to take a first aid course for a summer job last year.
The kid is scared, he tries pushing me away, but I’m determined, and not down a couple pints of blood. I pull the belt with two hands, pull it through again and twist, it’s ugly, it’s not perfect, but the flow of blood begins to slow, then stop.
We crawl behind a prize counter, decades old candy and stuffed animals surround us as we cower. A liquid filled roar loud enough to crack the cheap glass cases fills the room.
The kid is looking rough, blood still trickling from the torn stump of his forearm. I see some plastic bags and get an idea.
I lean over to get them, and feel something strange, at first I think I pulled a muscle.
Then there is a deep, burning pain, instinctively I pull away, and turn around.
The kid is on his knees, sanity has left his eyes, a cheap hunting knife in his remaining hand he has a look of panic and determination on his face.
“We have to win. “ he says, lunging at me with the blade.
He’s slow, and I avoid it, but not by as much as I’d like. Blood runs down my back, for a moment I wonder how bad I’m hurt, but it doesn’t really matter right now.
I retreat, but the only thing keeping us from being torn apart by the whirlwind of shrapnel caused by the creatures is the counter, I can’t escape.
It's a stalemate, I’m no athlete, and the kid is built like a rugby player, but he’s missing a hand, and delirious from blood loss. I plead, I try and reason, and I dodge crazed strikes by increasingly narrow margins.
Something large, either thrown or knocked loose destroys the counter behind me. Suddenly all is chaos. I’m thrown into the kid in the uniform, plaster dust surrounds us in a grey cloud.
By the time the air clears the kid is on top of me. I have his wrist in one hand, keeping the split tip of the blade inches from my face.
The angle is too awkward, I can’t get any leverage. It’s not a stalemate, it’s a war of attrition that I’m losing.
I catch a glimpse of the two creatures. The worm thing is striking at Augustus, who stands still, limbs moving in arcing blurs deflecting the blows and tearing off chunks of foul, tainted flesh.
The tip of the knife begins to dig into my cheek. A drop of blood hits my eye.
I grab the makeshift tourniquet with a free hand and roughly yank forward. The kid on top of me screams, bloods begins to pour. Torn flesh and a gore soaked belt hit the ground.
For a moment the weight on me eases up, and I push the knife forward. But the kid, he’s too stupid or far gone to just back off. As I feel is strength start to fade, he presses himself harder.
I expect him to back off as I begin to drive the roughly sharpened back edge of the knife into his neck. But he doubles down, leaning forward, trying to press the knife toward me.
For a moment, every other fucked up thing going on around me doesn’t matter. The world is small, silent, and consists of nothing more than the image of the knife ripping away a fist sized strip from the kids neck.
He backs off when he realizes the extent of the damage. Staring at me shocked, as if just not realizing the consequences of his actions.
He dies slowly, poorly, and within inches of me. I feel no victory, no sense of being a winner, just a dark pit in the back of my mind. The loss of something that comes with taking someone’s life.
I stand, shell shocked, staring at the corpse. My safety the last thing on my mind.
The worm thing is hurt, and attempts to dive into the ball pit, but somehow, defying physics, Augustus grabs it, holding the half ton monster out with one hand.
He arcs the thing, slamming it into the floor behind him, the spray of gore and viscera rivals pyrotechnics, the force leaves a blood filled crater in the floor.
Without missing a beat Augustus starts to walk toward me, making a token effort of flicking pieces of bone and organ from himself.
I’m frozen, I know nothing I can do could stop whatever he has planned.
The creature picks up a jagged piece of lumber, and looks at the clock, “We’ve got 45 seconds of fun left kid. “ he says with a sneer.
But as he passes the counter, and sees the corpse the look of imminent violence turns into amusement.
“How’s it feel to be a child killer, bud? “, Augustus laughs, “Not that I can’t tell from the look on your face.
Fuck me, that knocked some gears loose didn’t it? “
The thing walks forward, looking me over like a collectable.
“I can’t let that go to waste, now can I? “ he slaps me lightly, “It’s going to be a fucking blast watching you break down kid, wonder what drives you nuts first, this kid being in your dreams, or the fact that, at some point I’m going to get bored and start giving you all the pain you feel you deserve? “
Of course, I made it out alive. It’d be kind of hard to have posted this if I didn’t.
But now, I sit in a dingy room in a farm house half way across the world from home. Surrounded by family and monsters, all of which seem out to get me. Being forced to risk my life in some kind of blood sport.
Maybe I’ll be back, maybe I’ll be dead by the next time I get a chance to post anything. If anyone has any help, please, post it in the comments. I’m in a dark place here and no one else seems to be on my side.

(self promotion here) I'm working on chapter 3 of my fic Bio-toa Hero on fanfiction and AO3 and I'm trying to figure out which region to stick Izuku in when washes ashore. The only 2 regions I cannot stick him in are Ko-wahi and Onu-wahi. Ko wahi is on top of the mountain and inaccessible to the coast where as Onu-wahi is entirely underground given its a system of caves.
Each area has pros and cons too.
Ta wahi: Pro; close to Ta-Koro where Takua and Jaller are, warm, lots of armor and weapons to use.
Con; lava everywhere, super hot, hard to navigate the ash-forest, carbon monoxide and sulphur dioxide gas is gonna be common there, lava toads.
Ga Wahi: Pro: literally has Ga koro on the coast, pleanty of fish, Ga matoran routinely patrol the beaches looking for anything washed ashore so he'd be found quickly, ga koro is protected, Nokama who lives in Ga koro can translate any language even those she has never heard before thanks to her mask power, Hali and Maku would be willing to show him around.
Cons: Tarakava (think a mantis shrimp the size of a double decker bus that can and will attack on sight) are everywhere, makuta fish (basically piranhas) are common, not much shelter from Rahi in the area given its mostly beaches and lagoons, fresh water may be a problem, coastal storms routinely decimate the area.
Po-wahi: Pro: po-matoran are friendly. Nui cow are docile, lots of small caves to live in littered in the area, Onewa and Hewkii are really kind to strangers, Izuku may like Kohli (local sport that's a cross between hockey and Lacrosse)
Cons: it's a desert, Tarakava, Nui Jaga (giant scorpion creature) and other dangerous rahi are common, little water, little food, no shade, gets pretty warm, there's a traitor in the village who spreads a plague among the Matoran on purpose and later infected Kanohi which leads to a pseudo zombie plague.
Le-wahi; Pro: pleanty of shade, lots of water, lots of food, pleanty of wood, Le-koro is friendly, guko birds (car sized humming birds) are friendly, Kongu would definitely help Izuku, Matau is likely to get Izuku involved in a prank war with someone.
Cons: ash bears (just a big orange robot beat tbh), Fiku Nui spiders (imagine a daddy long legs the size of a large pickup truck with the temperament of a wolverine) are lethally poisonous unless treated, Nui Rama (giant robotic dragonflies that are extremely territorial and will attack anything they see), Fiku spiders (imagine a spider the size of a large cat that come in swarms and bit a LOT), lots of mosquitos, if youre not traveling through the treetops you're in the swamps below which has got to suck. Only a small area actually is near the coast so it'd be a long track to Le-koro which is at the base to the mountain Ko-wahi is on.

Cuz I was bored and I'm tired of the MC getting embarrased all the time (apologies for the poor quality... first time posting...well...anything...is this the right tag?)
(Scene: The Traveler stood watch as the orphans fought their father. They were losing badly. It didn't take very long for the three to end up on the ground, wounded and unconscious. The Traveler, unsure of Arle's intentions, decided to step in for their safety.)
The field was littered with broken arrows and burned cards, with smoking craters scattered about within the derelict landscape. Two of the three children lay on the cracked stone, warmed by the heat of elemental flames. As the eldest of them stood in front, his arms spread wide to protect his beloved siblings. He could barely stand, yet Lyney had a face of acceptance and cold determination as he looked towards the one they called "Father." Arlecchino regarded the boy with an emotionless gaze before raising her scythe high. The magician closes his eyes, expecting the end, until he hears the piercing whistle of an anemo-infused arrow and a weighty clang as it is swatted aside.
The Traveler dashed in, taking full advantage of his opponent's surprise, jabbing a white tassel from Liyue at the harbinger's stomach. Quicker than anyone could react, she parried the blow and manifested a single red wing, blowing her back several feet away from the wandering star, hitting aside a thrown spear in the process. Once more rushing in, the Traveler charged at the Knave, moving unpredictably to avoid the strange, red spikes protruding from the ground, courtesy of Arlecchino's curse. As they reached their opponent, the Traveler jumped, boosted by a tree root supersized by Dendro, and launched a geo-coated slash from a manifested Favonius greatsword at the Harbinger.
Unworried, the Knave easily stepped to the side, dodging the attack, then twisting around, the blade of her scythe cutting through the air, sending the Traveler flying, minus the greatsword. The Traveler managed to prevent a lethal blow by encasing themselves in a hydro bubble, landing on their feet, but unable to avoid a large yet shallow cut across their chest. Swinging their arms to the side, a beautiful golden sword appeared in the Traveler's hands, adorned with jewels and gleaming in the moonlight. Wielding the sword of Narzissenkreuz, they resumed their assault, sending blades of anemo and hydro at the Knave. She flourished her scythe, a trail of flame in its wake, turning most of the blades into steam before performing a graceful backflip into a horizontal slash, dodging all of the elemental attacks and sending her own pyro-infused wave at the Traveler, who stabbed their weapon into the earth, causing it to rumble, where a wall of geo was suddenly erected from the ground. Unfortunately, however, the geoconstruct failed to fully stop the attack, crumbling against the overwhelming heat and singeing the tips of their golden locks as they moved out of the way.
As all this was happening, Arlecchino took slow steps forward, obviously not treating this battle seriously. As the dust cleared, the Traveler was nowhere to be found. She stopped to search, eyes roving the broken landscape; the battlefield was pounded further into dust from the intensity of the duel, with puddles of water and small dendro cores filling the ashen ruins. She tilted her head and shifted her right foot back, finding an arrow protruding from the ground, sparking with electricity. The Knave's mind went into overdrive as she flew to the sky, a flurry of green bolts racing towards her like a school of starving piranhas, elemental seeds becoming activated and joining the speeding mass. She bobbed and weaved, dancing in the air as she avoided those deadly bullets. She dove, and the green death followed after, making a sharp turn to the right. The Harbinger expected the bolts to hit the ground; instead, they joined a swirling vortex of anemo that appeared out of nowhere, swirling into a menacing verdant storm. Having had enough, she stood her ground; her one wing flared as she swung her scythe, reality bending as the fires of the bale moon met the howling winds. An overloaded, burgeoning reaction caused the whole place to light up in a brilliant explosion, pushing the Knave back several feet before hitting a wall, which promptly collapsed on top of her.
For a moment, there was silence, except for the occasional sound of exertion from a certain floating fairy that was nowhere to be seen. The calm was then broken by a black, clawed hand tearing through the debris as Arlecchino stepped out of the rubble, bleeding cuts lining her face and her dirty uniform, but otherwise unscathed. She slammed her scythe downward, blocking a diagonal slash from the Traveler as they exploded out of the earth. They locked eyes for a few moments before resuming their clash. This time, however, Arlecchino was no longer holding back. With expert precision, she pushed the Traveler back with every step, cutting through anything the golden star could throw at her. Swords and spears were snapped in half, arrows were slapped away like gnats, and any elemental attacks were burned to a crisp before they could even form. The Traveler, being put under constant pressure, had no room to act and was forced to go on the defensive, yet even still, the wounds began piling up, instantly cauterizing that not even the power of the waters could heal them. As the battle drew closer and closer to the edge of the arena, Arlecchino managed to disarm the Traveler. The sword of Narzissenkreuz was sent spinning towards the nearby wall, where it stayed pinned. She then held them by the neck, all in one swift motion. The Harbinger lifted them up as they struggled, futilely, against her clawed grasp.
"You truly are as strong as the stories tell, but..."
Before she could continue speaking, the Traveler disappeared in a puff of smoke. Reacting purely by instinct, she slashed through the billowing screen and bisected a single poker card perfectly in two. For a split second, she turned her head towards the offending magician, who was surprisingly not where she left them, when a dull blade hit her on the side of the head, sending her crashing to the opposite wall. The Traveler had a small smile on their face as they spun around the old reliable, approaching the collapsed form of the Harbinger. As soon as they reached her location, a red blur shot towards the sky, and the night took on an ominous red glow. The creatures of the dark went silent as the stars seemed to flee from the crimson moon. The Traveler's smile was wiped off their faces as they jumped back, readying themselves, as they beheld a truly terrifying monster. Wings spread wide, and otherworldly spikes jutted out from her body like the limbs of a spider. She looked as if death itself had appeared in Teyvat. Using both her hands, she raised her scythe, preparing to end it in one blow, baleful orbs of black and red meeting those of gold. The Traveler nodded and took a deep breath, closing their eyes. Elements formed around the dull blade, taking on an otherworldly glow as they assumed a familiar stance. Having seen and almost been killed by this move countless times, The Traveler, with all their combat experience, had managed to mimic this legendary technique that only those of the divine can ever hope to learn. Although it was crude and could never be compared to the original, it was enough. With five out of the seven elements swirling around their blade, they opened their eyes and said their first words since this battle started:
"Musou no Hitotachi."
A whorl of colors clashed against a demonic red, and the leylines themselves shivered. Then, a clawed hand emerged from the light and grabbed the Traveler by the face, much to their surprise, before slamming them down to the stone floor. The blood moon receded, and the Traveler's collected power dispersed back to the veins of Teyvat; the sword they used was obliterated into nothingness. An anticlimactic end to a thrilling fight.
The Knave dusted off her uniform; though one of her hands lay limp by her side and a myriad of cuts graced her pale skin, she seemed unfazed. The Traveler, on the other hand, fared much worse, with every bone in their body likely bent or broken, their nose a bloodied mess, and dozens of cauterized wounds covering their flesh.
"TRAVEEEELEEEER!!!" She screamed in a high-pitched voice from across the ruins, a crying little fairy emerging from a shattered pillar. Paimon rushed the Harbinger, hitting the imposing woman with her little arms before rushing to the collapsed form of her best friend. Arlecchino watched it all with an apathetic expression as her lips curled ever so slightly upward. She approached the fallen star and stopped abruptly as Paimon floated towards her, arms spread wide as if trying to protect the person that was collapsed behind her, tears in her eyes and trembling in the air, as if it were taking all her effort to remain afloat.
"Stay away from them! I won't let you get close!" declared the little fairy, afraid yet not willing to run away. Arlecchino merely stared at her as she brought out a large container holding a bluish concoction. It had a tag on the front saying, ""
"Worry not, child, I will not harm them; now move aside." Paimon refused to budge, her eyes further tearing up as she stared at the potion. The Knave glared at her the way she did when her children misbehaved. "Fi-fine! But if you harm one hair on their head, you'll be sorry!" She threatened, halfheartedly, as she floated back down towards the Traveler. The Harbinger nods before crouching down, never kneeling, and slowly pouring the potion down the Traveler's throat. Seconds later, their wounds began to heal, assisted by their celestial constitution. They sputtered awake, coughing from the liquid forced down their throat. They looked up and saw the Knave assess them with a calculating look before breaking into a small, almost imperceptible smile.
"You are indeed strong," she began, as she offered her good hand to the Traveler, "but not yet strong enough to beat me." The Knave pulled them up and helped them stand before walking towards her three children, hidden behind a wall during the battle. The Traveler sighed as they scratched their heads, smiling fondly as Paimon cried, berating them for their recklessness.
"What if you'd died?! Who would feed Paimon, you jerk? You promised never to do that again, and you still did! Stop making me worry!"
The Traveler chuckled, patting the little fairy on the head. "I'm sorry, Paimon; I promise I won't do that again."
"LIAR! WAAAAAAH!"
Paimon rushed the Traveler, hugging his neck tightly and sobbing hard.
"Hey! This isn't the first time I've been beat up! I've had worse," they said, in an attempt to cheer their companion. The crying only got louder. "Ok, how about this? I treat you to a meal, anywhere you want!" They offered, gently stroking her hair. The crying stopped, and as she glared up at the fallen star, her eyes were wet, snot still falling from her nose.
"...Promise?"
"Promise!" the Traveler grinned.
"...hmph. Fine! Our next stop is Wanmin restaurant!"
Thoughts of the recent battle kept popping up in the Traveler's head, along with a burning resolve to become stronger, while they and Paimon talked about food in walk toward the direction where the Knave went (Paimon was still unwilling to let go of the Traveler). As the sun rose in the sky, banishing the dark night and paving the way for a brand new dawn.
(I cooked so hard it burnt)
Clarifications:

1. The scene is specifically just the battle with Arlecchino reimagined, but this time, the Traveler didn't butt in, and only decided to do so cause they didn't trust Arle's character and was worried for their friends. (FYI I actually have yet to do the Story Quest so I'm going in blind)
   
2. The Traveler can use all the weapon types in the game, most likely canon, I think. I do know they can use a bow though. (The weird Inazuma Quest where Traveler teaches the soldiers how to shoot)
   
3. The Traveler CAN use all five of their elements interchangeably, I don't care WHAT the others say (They did our MC so dirty in the original cutscene...)
   
4. The Traveler has got to have more than one weapon other than the dull blade right? if not then that's just sad. (All our Mora is going to feeding Paimon apparently). I imagine them being an avid weapon collector, buying random murder tools in every nation. (what with all the weapons we get from gacha, events, quests, etc.)
   
5. The Traveler should be as old, or heck, even older than Archons, so they should have decades if not centuries of combat experience under their belt, even if they're sealed. Which is why they could keep up with Arle through a contest of skill. Not to mention, they're good at fighting SMART, using everything they have at their disposal. Which probably makes the Traveler really annoying to fight (Rip Hat Guy having to fight us over a hundred times).
   
6. The Hydro + Dendro + Electro reaction (I forgot it's name) is my favorite. Sue me. also I'd like to think that elements can still chain further than the ones in game sooo hyper explosive death tornado!
   
7. Lyney being the best big brother ever with the massive save!!
   
8. DULL BLADE STRIKES AGAIN. YOU THOUGHT I WOULDN'T ADD IT IN WOULD YOU?
   
9. Delusion (?) Arle is a menace, such a beutiful, etherial design, a mix between a swan, a spider, and some horrible eldritch entity. I simply cannot put it eloquent enough. (Also detailed descriptions are not my forte)
   
10. Yes. Traveler used Musou no Hitotachi, no it isn't perfect, in fact it's far from it. If the shogun saw it, their emotionless face would actually laugh at them. But the damn thing is still the pinnacle of swordsmanship in Teyvat. So even if it's a poor imitation, it would still do a stupid amount of damage. As for the question of it was actually possible...well see point 5.
    
11. Traveler would still lose. Right now? they are still below the higher powers of this world. And their biggest "wins" were with massive outside assistance. That still does not make us a slouch that can be used as a punching bag to advertise the shiny 5 star (oh wait...) The Traveler is world famous as of currently, although we had help, we still took down region ending threats, held our own against literal gods and dragons, and still managed to live to tell the tale, not to mention point 5 again. Given time, the Traveler should be able to close the gap with Arle. (We are so getting bodied by The Captain in Natlan though...)
    
12. Alchemical Ascension was a fun event. That's all I have to say. (It's a healing, constitution potion btw).
    
13. Paimon Cute. if she isn't being annoying.
    

(And that's all I can list on the top of my head. Would be nice to know your thoughts! Also some suggestions for my writing...)

Is it vegan to adopt baby eating piranhas and continue feeding them babies? I know that plantbased piranha food exists but i noticed their scales glittered less and they seemed a bit lethargic. So i went back to feeding them babies but some preachy human rights activists told that feeding them babies violates human rights. So im curious what you guys think.